Katja Verheul

audiovisueel

I am a filmmaker and artistic archeologist based in Rotterdam (NL). I graduated with a BFA in Audio-Visual Arts from Gerrit Rietveld Academie (NL) in 2012 and hold a MFA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths University (UK) in 2016.

I believe in the revealing value of long-term research. The deep dive into complex matter is an important part of my work process. With my film and video projects I want to make complex (invisible) social, political and economical issues visible. My work often arises from the question; what remains after a war and what is the impact of these remains on people and nature?
I am working as an artistic archeologist digging through our most recent history. Before it is nostalgic, before it is a story that lies generations before us. Not only to demystify, but to make the mediated and almost historicized and perhaps forgotten reality personal again.


A Day Without Space (feature length film in development) - Beeld: The American Satellite Company (ASC) satellite deployed from payload bay NASA ID: 51I-32-059 Wanneer een verdachte satelliet door de ruimte zweeft, worden er verschillende gebeurtenissen in gang gezet. Welke strijd wordt er gevoerd in de ruimte en wat ondervinden we hiervan op aarde? En van wie is die ruimte eigenlijk? Een 10-jarig meisje, een satellietbouwer, een satelliet en de Commissie voor Vreedzaam Gebruik van de Ruimte worden geconfronteerd met een dag zonder de ruimte. In development with Rotterdam Writers’ Room >​​ https://www.rotterdamwritersrooms.nl/
Örö (short film in post-production) - The island Örö is a protected natural area that has been shaped by years of use as a military training ground. During my artist residency at the Örö, I will live, conduct research, and film on the island. I will create an experimental portrait of the long-term impact of military activities on the island. How have these activities shaped nature? How do the present and the past converge here, and what are the consequences? With the support of the Öres residency program (https://www.ores.fi/) and Amarte Fonds.
What is Left Behind (in post-production) - An experimental documentary exploring the impact of dumped munitions in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. After World War II, over 300,000 tons of weapons were dumped into the sea, including 40,000 tons of chemical weapons. All of this was done to prevent a new war from erupting. After more than 75 years, the bottoms of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea are still littered with dumped munition - a ticking time bomb. No matter how hard we try to bury things, they always resurface. In collaboration with anthropologist Anna Beerstra. With the support of de korte verbeelding (Mondriaan Fonds - Dutch Filmfonds) and Amarte fonds.
Red Dust (2024) - 2024/ 4K/ 16:9/ stereo sound/ 17:09 min. / French with English subtitles A couple of times a year, the sky turns red in France. Sand dust from the Sahara is passed through a difference in air pressure from North Africa to Southern Europe. This dust, a time capsule containing cesium-137 from the French nuclear tests in Algeria, covers everything. The film exposes the impact of a war that was never fought. A French veteran and archeology students share and speculate on what will be remembered and what will be hidden under the sand forever. With the support of CBK Rotterdam, Gemeente Rotterdam, Mondriaan Fonds, Cultuurfonds, Dos Mares residency program and GPC Lab.
TRUST (2022) - 2022/ 4K/ 16:9/ stereo sound/ 22.34 min. / Dutch with English subtitles (EN) A group of young girls dive into the complex hidden world of tax evasion by big foreign companies in the Netherlands. What happens behind the closed doors of these big anonymous office buildings in the suburbs of Amsterdam?
Improvised Objects (2021) - 2021/ 4K/ 16:9/ stereo sound/ 5.1/ DCP/ 9.36 min. In a world where billions are spent on state-of-the-art weaponry, the deadliest weapon is still a so-called Improvised Explosive Device, which most people can make from materials found at their homes. An IED maker, a soldier and a philosopher describe their relationship with these objects, which can have almost any shape, form and content. Distribution: Lima Amsterdam Financially supported by: Dommering Fonds
Dynamo (2020) - 2020/ 4K/ 16:9/ stereo sound/ 4.29 min. DYNAMO weaves a mysterious tale of a creature wandering around the empty CUBE. Nothing can stay hidden in a completely transparent building. But what are we watching? Or rather, who is watching who? Commissioned for: Kaan Architecten
Maiden (2019) - 2019/ 4K/ 16:9/ stereo sound/ 7.24 min. A group of young girls re-enact, deconstruct and rebuild an old myth to question its meaning today. Commissioned for: Yarat Contemporary Art Centre (AZ)
Toni and Bleri (2018) - 2018/ 4K /16:9/ stereo sound/ 20 min./ DCP During one of the last days of the winter two young Kosovar actors find some left over construction material. While dreaming about leaving the country without the visa hassle they decide to take the shattered parts with them. At an abandoned building they start constructing the different parts building their own one-man rocket - while stories from the past are brought up. Both boys decide that the rocket needs to be launched from the top of the highest mountains in Kosovo, the mythical Accursed mountains. After a dreadful hike to the top of the Accursed mountains, one of the boys will be launched into a new future. Financially supported by: Stroom Den Haag, Mondriaan Fonds, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport of Kosovo