Angels of Love

SUBJECT: SEXUAL ABUSE

(2002, Holandija, 42 min)
Direction/screenplay Barbara den Uyl
Producer Leen van den Berg
Production and Distribution Van der Hoop Film Productions

Hedije is the child of an Israeli mother and a Turkish father. At the age of fifteen, she became a prostitute. She speaks openly to director Barbara den Uyl about the possible causes. She was constantly beaten by her mother and raped by her uncle when she was twelve. But she also likes the power and the game of her seducing. She has three kids, one of who lives with her. She says that for him she wants to stop doing this work. Den Uyl follows Hedije while she slowly puts her life in order, continuously directing the camera at Hedije's face. This makes the film both a portrait of her life and of the way her appearance reflects her inner self. This especially clear from her conversations with her social worker, who occasionally breaks through the mask of aloofness.

Barbara den Uyl was born in 1949 in Amsterdam where she studied German, acting and directing. After having taught for six years, she joined a film collective, The Amsterdam City Journal. She subsequently worked as a screenwriter, production assistant and assistant director, and in 1981, she started to direct her own films, some autobiographical like Diary of forgetting and Poco Mosso, and others dealing with social issues such as How many hours did you go to school?, In the arms of the law, Asbestos, The silent killer, For ever Little, Unemployable, Angels of Love, The guitar speaks. In 2004 she made Marokko Swingt in homage to the famous Moroccan singer Najat Aâtabou.

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