Photo: Marleen Slot (credits: Viking Film)

Dutch Marleen Slot produces, in the main, one film every two years and takes a minority credit on roughly two films per year. “It's only me at Viking Film. That's why I only work on a very limited number of films at the same time,” she tells SEE NL. That said, it is testament both to her excellent taste and her international reputation that, right now, two of those minority co-pros are selected for top slots in Sundance and Berlin. 

Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, starring Olivia Coleman and John Lithgow, will play in Sundance Premieres section while Gabriel Mascaro’s O último azul (The Blue Trail) will go head to head with eighteen other titles in Berlin competition.

In Jimpa, Hannah takes her nonbinary teenager, Frances, to Amsterdam to visit their gay grandfather, Jim — lovingly known as Jimpa. But Frances’ desire to stay abroad with Jimpa for a year means Hannah is forced to reconsider her beliefs about parenting and finally confront old stories about the past.

Slot’s involvement in the film came about after she was tracked down by director Sophie Hyde. Hyde had been seeking a Dutch co-producer at the 2022 Berlinale Co-production Market, where people mentioned Viking as a solid partner. But Slot wasn’t at the Co-production market because she had the premiere of her animated feature Oink* during that Berlinale, so post-Berlin Hyde took a trip to Amsterdam where they eventually met.  

“We met in the lobby of a hotel and I remember walking in and seeing Sophie and thinking immediately, okay, we have a connection. It was almost like speed dating. There was a click and that's how it started,” remembers Slot who (fortunately) was already a big fan of Hyde’s work, not least her 2022 feature Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. 

“It was immediately quite clear that a lot of the film was going to be shot in the Netherlands because, and this is what I really liked about it, it was Sophie's personal story,” Slot continues.

“Her father came out as a queer man when she was in puberty and in her personal life he moved to Melbourne. But in the film she wanted him to move to Amsterdam to tell the story of his becoming part of this big movement that fought for the rights of the queer community. And he would also of course have been there during the AIDS epidemic and those important moments in the history of the world - and in the history of Amsterdam.”

Jimpa received over a million euros in support from the Netherlands Film Fund, via selective funding and the Netherlands Production Incentive. Benelux distributor Cinéart also put some “real money” into the film,” says Slot.

“Because the entire shoot was here, so much of the crew was Dutch,” she adds. “A lot of the heads of department came from Australia, but all the other crew on set during the shoot were coming from the Netherlands. And there was also room in the film for Dutch cast. We were really searching for people who could relate to the film from their own experience.”

“We had trans persons, non-binary persons, queer persons as part of the crew and cast. I think, for me, that was the first time that it was so clear on a film that what was happening in front of the camera was also happening behind the camera. That was the most special thing for me about this film, that it reflected so beautifully what the film was about; that for everyone involved in the film it was such an important story to tell, and that Sophie's personal life story was so embraced by all this wonderful Dutch crew and cast who could really relate to the story. I really become emotional about this because I think it's so beautiful that we managed to pull that off, especially my production team who played a major part in bringing all this together.”

Slot further points out the appeal of Amsterdam to the film’s major international stars. Olivia Coleman would walk to the set everyday across and along the city’s canals. “She's as lovely and wonderful as you would think she is, and would hope she is,” says Slot of the British national treasure.

The Dutch producer took little persuading to join the Brazilian O último azul (The Blue Trail), directed by Gabriel Mascaro and selected for Berlin Competition. Slot had co-produced the director’s Neon Bull in 2015, a film which remains one of her favourites to this day.

The plot of The Blue Trail, which received NFF+HBF support and for which acclaimed sound professional Vincent Sinceretti organised the mix, is intriguing. To maximize economic productivity, the government orders the elderly to relocate to distant housing colonies. Tereza, 77, refuses - instead embarking on a journey through the Amazon that will change her destiny forever.

“I think it was already six years ago when they [Mascaro and producer Rachel Daisy Ellis] approached me to ask if I wanted to be part of this film that tells the story of an elderly woman who is put out of society,” says Slot. “I was of course immediately intrigued because I really think it's fantastic that as a Dutch person you can be part of these stories taking place in the Amazon... And I really like working with like-minded Latin America production companies that are, like Viking, not big-sized.”

“Gabriel shows a different Brazil than the one that we see in other films,” she continues. “A lot of his films are shot in the north-east region of Brazil, and I think it is very strong that he focuses on society there at this moment. But he does so through an amazing visual approach and by combining reality with the fantastical elements which I really love and admire in his work.”

“Once you find a co-producer and director that you are happy to work with, you want to enjoy working with them for a long time,” she adds.

Slot will be presenting her feature film Reedland later in 2025. In the majority production, when reed cutter Johan finds the body of a murdered girl on his reed plot, he is overcome by an ambiguous sense of guilt and sets out on a quest to track down evil. “It's a very strong debut film by Sven Bresser. We presented the film as a work-in-progress in December at Les Arcs, where it was very well received.”

She is also in talks with Michael Elliott with whom she produced Sacha Polak’s acclaimed Dirty God** and Silver Haze*. Together, they will work on UK director Rebecca Daly's next film. Slot and Elliott will also be producing Polak’s upcoming Haunted Heart, which she describes as a more genre-driven film.

“It's a horror film dealing with the horror of divorce,” Slot signs off.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund
**Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and the Production Incentive