Marc Bary & Nicky Onstenk
Kromme-Mijdrechtstraat 110-2 | 1079 LD Amsterdam
films@ijswater.nl | +31 204421760
Company Website

IJswater Films (‘Icewater Films’), founded/headed by producer Marc Bary, has been producing high quality award winning features, shorts, documentaries and TV-drama by emerging or established (inter)national talent for almost 30 years. Producer Nicky Onstenk joined the company in 2019 and is one of the two Dutch selected participants for the Cannes impACT Lab this year at the Marché du Film 2024.

Titles, a.o., include THE POLISH BRIDE (Cannes Critics Choice, Golden Globe Nominee), WIN/WIN (Prix Genève Europe Script Award), THE NEW WORLD (Intl. Emmy Award Best Actress), SUPERNOVA (Berlinale Generation Nominee), IN BLUE (Dutch Academy Awards Best Director/Best Screenplay/Best Actress, Austin FF Best Narrative Feature), Spanish co-pro LÁ ÚLTIMA PRIMAVERA / LAST DAYS OF SPRING by Isabel Lamberti (2020, Cannes ACID Nomination, San Sebastian IFF New Directors Award, Les Arcs IFF Best Acting Award), SPOTLESS by Emma Branderhorst (2022, Crystal Bear Best Short Berlinale), children’s series KABAM! by Elisabeth Hesemans (2022, Intl. Emmy Award Best Kids Live-Action series) and MAGMA by Luca Meisters (2023, Nominee Generation Kplus, Best Dutch Short Cinekid).

Recently released: English-Italian-Dutch spoken THE MAN FROM ROME by Jaap van Heusden, starring Michele Riondino and Emma Bading (2023, Nominee PÖFF Tallinn Black Nights FF, Dutch Academy Award Best Music, German co-producer: Fiction Park, sales: Patra Spanou), Spanish spoken KILLING CRABS / MATAR CANGREJOS by Omar Al Abdul Razzak Martínez (2023, Best Actress & Best Spanish Film Malága FF, Best Film Las Palmas FF, Spanish producer: Tourmalet, sales: Filmax) and feature length telefilm thriller PARIAH by Edson da Conceicao (2024, Nominee Fantaspoa IFF, sales: Skoop Media).

In production: four documentaries; LUCAS by Tim Bary, THE NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE by Fleur Bax, Belgian co-pro MOON DIARY by Vanessa Del Campo-Gatell, BLUE NOTES & HIGHER GROUNDS by Erik de Bruyn and the fiction feature length telefilm PROJECT HERBERT by Barbara Bredero.

In development / finance, a.o: youth films CHARLIE THE TREE GIRL (written by Lineke van den Boezem & Matthijs van Wensveen, director Sanne Vogel, Belgian co-pro De Mensen), JUST NICK (written by Jeanine Cronie, director Nicole van Kilsdonk), historical biopic ANTON DE KOM, I SHALL BE HEARD (written by Philip Delmaar & Raoul de Jong, director Edson da Conceicao, Dutch-Surinamese co-pro Tulsa Studios), ROT (by Malu Janssen, co-pro Grom Productions), DENIAL (written by Malika al Houbach, director Jorien van Nes, co-pro Rocketta Film), BLOOD STONE (written by Helena van der Meulen, director Daan Groot) and the second season of the children’s series KABAM! (written by Floor Paul & Lilian Sijbesma, director Elisabeth Hesemans, Belgian co-pro De Mensen).

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Winston (59), an unemployed photographer, encounters his estranged son Jayden in a Rotterdam bar and relies on him for help when he can't pay his bill. Later on, Jayden is tragically shot and killed while running an errand for Winston, leading Winston to seek justice against the alleged attacker, Talib. However, when Winston finds Talib overdosing, he saves his life and gradually forms a paternal bond with him, pretending to be a social worker. Now, Winston must confront the complexities of his surrogate fatherhood and come to terms with his conflicting emotions amidst loss and redemption.

Edson da Conceicao (1987, Rotterdam) studied film directing at the Netherlands Film Academy (class of 2019) and graduated with the internationally acclaimed films MANIA and PORFOTTO (Nominee Student Oscar Academy Award, Netherlands Film Festival Student Competition). In 2020 he directed the short LAST RIDE (produced by IJswater Films, Intl. Filmfest Emden-Nordeney, GwangHwaMun Intl. Short FF, Interfilm Berlin FF, Nomination Shortcutz Annual Awards 2022). In 2021 he was co-director of the mid-length film THE STERFSHOW (RTL Videoland). In 2022, Edson co-directed the high-end drama series THE CRASH (Big Blue/ KRONCRV) about the 1998 Boeing crash in Amsterdam, which won the Dutch Academy Award Best Drama Series. Recently he directed the feature length telefilm thriller PARIAH (2024 Fantaspoa FF intl. competition, IJswater Films/ VPRO) and recently he co-wrote the crime film TAXI (2024, Fiction Valley/ RTL Videoland). Besides LOST SON, he’s developing the feature CODE RED (Volya Films), the drama series SCORRO (Hazazah, KRO/NCRV) and NARCO CITY (Fiction Valley, RTL Videoland) and the feature ANTON DE KOM, I SHALL BE HEARD (IJswater & Tulsa Studios).

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Woody, a depressed 17-year-old boy from a tiny village in Alaska, does something grotesquely stupid: he shoots The Oil Pipeline by accident and becomes a most wanted eco-terrorist, hunted by the seasoned FBI Agent Susan Tarheel. The boy who was fed up with living, is now running for his life. Lost in the wild, without a plan, Woody is not easy prey. As Tarheel closes in, she also identifies more with the boy. While Woody escapes across the state and into arctic Canada, he is reconnecting with the land, its people and the roots of his Inuit mother: he’s learning for the first time what it actually means to be alive.

Director Jaap van Heusden (1979) graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2005 with A COMPLICATED STORY, SIMPLY TOLD (Shortlist Student Academy Awards, Cannes Cinéfondation Competition). Writing and directing short, mid- & feature length films, like; ANDERMAN (Documentary, Tribecca IFF), OOIT (Nomination Dutch Academy Award Best TV Drama 2008), WIN/WIN (feature film debut, Selection 30 Film Festivals, IFFR Bright Future 2010, Prix Europe Best Screenplay, Winner Best Actor Brooklyn FF), THE NEW WORLD (Selection 45 Festivals, Winner Intl. Emmy Award Best Actress 2014, Signis Award Washington FF, Best Runner Up Melbourne IFF), BEHIND THE BLUE SCREEN (SXSW Digital Domain 2015), ASYLUM (Nomination Dutch Academy Award Best Documentary 2018) and his 3rd feature film, set in Bucharest, the Dutch-English spoken IN BLUE (Winner Dutch Academy Awards Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress 2018, a.o. Winner Narrative Feature Award Austin FF, Rome FF, Cape Town FF, Beijing FF). Recently he co-wrote and directed the Dutch-German co-pro THE MAN FROM ROME (co-written by Rogier de Blok); 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Intl. Film Festival, Special Mention Award Tertio Millennio Film Fest Rome, NFF Directors Forum, 4 Dutch Academy Award Nominations, Winner Dutch Academy Award Best Music.