Dennis Bots

Dennis Bots (born 11 June 1974) is a Zambian-Dutch film director Quotes The origin of Project Orpheus lies with an Israeli television series, rewritten and translated to the Dutch situation. That Israeli series could be based on FLATLINERS, I don't know. I remember being really enthusiastic when I saw FLATLINERS back then. When I started this, it seemed like a good idea to watch it again, but honestly, the film was quite disappointing at the time (laughs). But the premise remains beautiful.' 'It is a hospital series with a twist. I find that experimentation with the afterlife interesting, that life and death are so close together. This genre isn't made much in the Netherlands, and that is also a reason for me to do this. I love to stimulate the imagination, to take people into another world. In my work, I like to seek out that supernatural edge, like in THE HOUSE OF ANUBIS and the short films I made when I had just graduated from film school. Project Orpheus has that beautiful balance between two worlds: the realism of a training program, in which the students come into contact with patients, and the supernatural of that experiment that brings out their curiosity. Ultimately, the experiment becomes increasingly important, but the students continue to work on their training, with all the problems that entails. They will use their gift to achieve better results, but wait… I don't want to give too much away.' What appeals about the series? 'I was looking for actors who could give the series a fresh feel. Actors, too, who can play two sides, because the students change due to the experiments. For them, it is naturally a challenge to play two characters within a single series. Willem Voogd, in particular, did that transformation very well during the auditions. He is from, among others, Zwarte Tulp , another series with a paranormal twist, about which I thought, “Wow, that we are making that in the Netherlands!” Jouman Fattal can also handle both sides well. She is the one who – uh, well, how should I put it without giving it away… (pauses) Anyway, I am just happy with these young guns who aren't afraid to tackle a new kind of series. They gave it their all. The sparkle in their eyes, that is beautiful to see.' The lead roles are played by five young, partly unknown actors. 'We were really looking forward to that moment, even though we filmed it on the third day of shooting (laughs). It was nerve-wracking, because you are performing CPR. Medical assistance was on standby so that the actions would look believable, but also to prevent anything from going wrong. They are actually all technical procedures: inject that syringe there, then grab the defibrillator… As an actor, that feels very technical because you have to follow exactly the right sequence, but the moment they were doing it, it gave an adrenaline rush that I am sure the viewer will feel too. I stood there and thought: “Wow, this works!” That is when you really see a series come to life How did the recordings of that first experiment go? External links nm0007071 Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Film directors from Zambia Category:People from Zambia