We are saddened by the news of the passing Vincent Monnikendam last Friday, the Award-winning film director famous for his iconic documentary Mother Dao, the Turtlelike.
In 2004 at Memphis, we produced what would become his last film, Souls of Naples: a visually overwhelming non-fiction film about Naples and a passionate ode to Caravaggio’s painting The Seven Acts of Mercy. Together with cinematographer Melle van Essen, Vincent Monnikendam ends in the backstreets and steep alleyways of Naples where sunlight barely penetrates, where dark drama and frivolity keep the age-old city in their grip, not focusing on the architecture or tourist pictures, but on the human drama unfolding in front of the camera. A film that has won numerous international prizes. “Sheer beauty” as it was quoted by Variety.
Thank you, Vincent, it was a real honor. Arrivederci.
