Johan Fretz's road trip through Surinam, Onder de Paramariboom, and film

Toriman and writer Fretz discusses film clips, inspired by his travel tale of Surinam

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Date and time Saturday 18 January 2020 21:20 tot 22:10 uur
Location Filmhuis - zaal 1

Before writer, toriman and newspaper columnist Johan Fretz went to cabaret school, he studied at the film academy - so we can trust in his love of film! Inspired by his literary work, especially his Surinam travel tale Onder de Paramariboom (Under the Paramari Tree), moderator Gerlinda Heywegen presents film clips to invite him to tell us about two countries and perhaps even the whole world.

Fretz on Surinam: "Suddenly the shutters flew open. How incredible that there seems to be a whole world there. And where they speak Dutch, more beautifully and with more love than in the land of its origin."

Fretz' novel Onder de Paramariboom was published in 2018, a hilarious and disarming road trip through Surinam. It is a search for roots and identity for someone of mixed blood, but above all about a reconciliation between a mother and a son. The book won the Bookseller's Prize in 2019. Fretz created a solo performance based on the book, which he toured through the Netherlands and which was nominated for the cabaret prize Neerlands Hoop.

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Johan Fretz

(1985) is a writer, theatre and documentary filmmaker. He successfully made cabaret performances, first with Marcel Harteveld and then solo, was a columnist for Het Parool for a decade and in 2012 published his novel Fretz 2025, in which a young idealist aspires to become prime minister of the Netherlands. His second novel, Onder de paramariboom, won him the Boekhandelsprijs in 2019. In it, he tells the story of a hilarious and disarming road trip through Suriname; a quest for roots and identity as a 'double-blood' and for reconciliation between a mother and a son. 2022 saw the broadcast of the documentary What's Left, which he made with Juul Op den Kamp, about the decline of social democracy, and the publication of his book Met vriendelijke groet (Best regards), a collection of his most important pieces, stimulating and layered reflections, with which Fretz celebrates ten years of authorship. In 2023, his literary non-fiction book Onvrijheid (Lack of Freedom) will be published.
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