Still: The Smell of Apples - John Trengove

Lennert Hillege is one of the most versatile Dutch DoPs currently working. His credits range from Steve McQueen’s epic wartime documentary, Occupied City, to the children’s classic, Winky’s Horse. On the Sunday morning he speaks to SEE NL, Hillege is in Istanbul, on a day off from shooting a new movie, 100,000 Turkish Liras (working title), directed by Nazlı Elif Durlu.

The veteran cameraman’s mantra, regardless of the type of film he is making, is “keep it simple and keep it honest.” He is also fond of a piece of advice McQueen once gave him: “a shot should be like a cat jumping off a table, that’s to say with the minimum amount of effort but full of grace.”

Hillege acknowledges that movies have always involved deception and sleight of hand but he still strives for emotional honesty. As he puts it:

“we are liars as filmmakers and sometimes it is nice to lie a little less."

His new feature, The Smell of Apples*, is a world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section. Directed by John Trengove, this is a delicately crafted rites of passage drama set in Cape Town in the mid 70s, during the Apartheid era. 11-year-old Manus (Dawian van der Westhuizen) is trying to make sense of the cruelty and deception he witnesses in the adult world around him.

“I think John was looking for a Dutch cinematographer. It was a leap of faith,” the cinematographer says of his collaboration with Trengove, which began with “a nice long talk” on Zoom.

Hillege relished the chance to make a film whose story was being told from a child’s point of view. “The boy is such a good actor, with such gravitas. It came quite naturally,” he notes of the shooting style in the film which is deliberately “calm and focused.” He adds that he sometimes prefer to work with kids rather than experienced professional actors. “Children lie less,” he states. “I love working with children because it is just more fun. It reminds you to keep having fun - but with grown-ups, it can become quite serious.”

This wasn’t van der Westhuizen’s first movie, but the young lead is still very natural in front of the camera. Director Trengove was sensitive in the way he directed him, making sure that the mood on set never became too heavy or oppressive.

In advance of shooting, Hillege and Trengove talked extensively about the script, “seeing it as music and finding its rhythm.” The cinematographer would make small shot lists for each scene. There were plenty of variables - for instance weather and location - that Hillege knew he couldn’t fully control. That’s why he had to be (as he puts it) “a little bit jazzy.” The trick, he elaborates, is to know when to improvise while also respecting the project’s structure.

This was a “small” film, which made reconstructing the 1970s easier. One of the first challenges was to find a house from that era where they would be allowed to film.

Cape Town is one of the hubs of the South African movie and commercials world. That meant the filmmakers are able to draw on “very experienced people” for the key crew jobs (among them operators to film scenes at the seaside as the boy swims in rough seas).

Hillege describes Cape Town as “one of the most beautiful places on Earth where a city is built” and rhapsodises about the “mountains, the nature, the ocean and all that stuff. It’s really, really special.” Nonetheless, he also noticed the inequality and social extremes: rich and poor living side by side.

The Dutch producer on the film was the prolific and much-travelled Frank Hoeve. “This was my first time with him. I hope he finds me again,” Hillege says of the Baldr Films boss.

Hilege may be one of the top cinematographers in the Dutch industry but he still sometimes has gaps between jobs. That is partly because he wants to spend time with his family, but work is rarely constant. To keep himself busy, he has done advertisements and series as well as features.

“It is always one step at a time,” he reflects.

“As the Dutch say, it can be freezing or it can be hot. It’s a very nomadic life and when you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. I take long breaks to justify being away [from home] for a long time and I don’t have children, so that helps.”

The Smell of Apples is minority co-produced by BALDR Film. Sales are represented by Cercamon.

Find out more about TIFF here.

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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund