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Poetic biopic about South-African poet Ingrid Jonker, who in her turbulent life fought against the demons of liquor and depression and her arduous relations with men, including her authoritarian father.

In 2001, the equally turbulent and tragic life of the South-African poet Ingrid Jonker was the subject of the documentary Korreltjie niks is my dood. This time, it is the basis for a biopic with international ambitions. In the Netherlands, she is not widely known, but in her native country Nelson Mandela saw to it that the memory of Jonker’s modest oeuvre was kept alive. The focus of Black Butterflies does not lie so much on her literary qualities or poetic protest against the abuses of apartheid, but concentrates more on the woman behind the artist. Hers is a stratified role: liberated and zesty, but also destructive, given to drink and unmanageable. In the 1960s, Jonker is caught, as it were, between two men: the kindred spirit Jack Cope, a writer she has a passionate affair with, and her tyrannical, ultraconservative father who is deeply troubled by her looseness and political bias.

Title: Black Butterflies
Year: 2011
Duration : 1 hour, 37 minutes
Category: Feature film
Edition: NFF 2011

Gouden Kalf winner

Beste Film (2011)
Frans van Gestel
Beste Film (2011)
Richard Claus
Beste Actrice (2011)
Carice van Houten
Beste Film (2011)
Arry Voorsmit
Beste Montage (2011)
Sander Vos (NCE)
Beste Film (2011)
Arnold Heslenfeld

Gouden Kalf nominees

Beste Regie (2011)
Paula van der Oest

Other awards

Gouden Film (100.000 bezoekers speelfilm) (2011)

NFF Archive

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