ND/NF: Esther Rots Gets in Your Face

Dutch shorts filmmaker Esther Rots makes her feature debut with a well-wrought entry in too-close-for-comfort cinema. First-person frayed, Can Go Through Skin accompanies assault victim Marieke through recovery in a rundown country house. Nicolas Rapold spoke to Rots prior to her film's North American premiere.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center

How close? This close.

Details

RELATED

Brand-New Loves
In its 39th edition, ND/NF tries to stay forever young
by Nick Pinkerton

The Voyeur
Ondi Timoner gets inside Josh Harris's web
by John Anderson

The Kid Again
So Yong Kim knows what it feels like for a girl
by Melissa Anderson

The Searcher
Forget soup. Sophie Barthes has a chickpea for your soul.
by Anthony Kaufman

The Activist
Louis Psihoyos must save the dolphins
by John Anderson

Related Content

• This Week's Voice: It's the Real, Dance-Music Labels WT, Golf Channel, and L.I.E.S., globalFEST 2011, and More
  January 5, 2011
• NYFF: Daily Reviews
  October 5, 2011
• This Week's Voice: Waka Flocka Flame, Sharon Van Etten, Group Home, Unearthly Trance, and More
  October 6, 2010
• The Golden Age of NYC Public-Access TV at MOMI
  February 9, 2011
• This Week's Voice: R. Crumb on Genesis (The Band), Green Day's New Musical, Merle Haggard, The Tribeca Film Festival, Le Cage aux Folles, And More
  April 21, 2010

More About

• Esther Rots
• Nicolas Rapold
• Rifka Lodeizen
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

What does the title mean? It sounds like a detergent warning.

I quite like the ominous side of it. It means multiple things—the difference between how you feel and how you look, maybe even how you can fool yourself. And skin, it's so easy to put a knife through, and your life is gone. It's not a lot of protection, really.

How did you balance fidelity to Marieke's point of view, and orienting the viewer?

For me, it was much more important to stay as honest and close to Marieke as I could, than to take care of the audience.

Besides her neighbor, her main company is her laptop.

If I went to the countryside, it would be the first thing I would take care of. I would search on the Internet to see how other people deal with this. I don't see myself going to a shrink, but stuff on the Internet goes really deep, and it's totally anonymous at the same time.

What sort of preparation did you do with the actress, Rifka Lodeizen?

Mostly [it was] about how Marieke was before all of this happened: the proud, independent, funny girl. It was very important to work chronologically so we could really mold [the character] as she was trying to pick up her life.

The stripped-down house constantly reflects Marieke's emotions.

Sometimes the house is like a shell where she feels safe—and the next day, it's terrible. It has the same complexity as a character.

The film can be jarring, yet it's sewn together so well. What was your editing process like?

I was still writing scenes while I was editing. The handheld, the getting closer to Rifka—that worked really well. And because we saw it was working, we grew confident in taking it as far as we could. So the whole thing grew together like a tree. "

Can Go Through Skin" screens April 3 and April 4