De Jacht op Meral Ö

De Jacht op Meral Ö
Directed byStijn Bouma
Written byStijn Bouma
Roelof Jan Minneboo
Produced byKoji Nelissen
Derk-Jan Warrink
StarringDilan Yurdakul
Gijs Naber
Raymond Thiry
CinematographyMick van Dantzig
Edited bySaskia Kievits
Production
company
Kepler Film
Distributed byParadiso Film
Release date
  • 2 September 2024 (2024-09-02) (De Balie)
[1]
Running time
91 minutes
CountryNetherlands
LanguagesDutch
Turkish

De Jacht op Meral Ö is a Dutch drama film from 2024 about the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, directed by Stijn Bouma in his fiction directorial debut.[1] Bouma previously directed two documentaries about the victims of the scandal, Alleen tegen de Staat from 2021 and Sheila versus de Staat from 2023.[2][3] The film premiered on 2 September 2024 in De Balie in Amsterdam.[1] The film also played at the Film by the Sea film festival in Vlissingen.[4]

Premise

The Turkish-Dutch Meral tries to keep afloat with her two young daughters in Almere when the tax authorities unjustly demand an enormous repayment of €34,000 in child benefits.

Reception

The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from Dutch critics. Trouw called it a compelling drama about the childcare benefits scandal.[5] De Volkskrant gave the film four out of five stars,[6] while Dagblad van het Noorden gave it three stars out of four.[7] Renske Leijten, one of the whistleblowers of the childcare benefits scandal, praised how realistically the film depicted the scandal.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "De Jacht op Meral Ö." De Balie (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Nederlands Film Festival | Alleen tegen de Staat". filmfestival.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  3. ^ "2Doc: Sheila versus de Staat - Documentaires". HUMAN (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Jacht op Meral Ö., De". Film by the Sea (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  5. ^ van de Graaf, Belinda (4 September 2024). "Recensie: 'De Jacht op Meral Ö.' ontpopt zich als een indringend drama over het toeslagenschandaal". Trouw (in Dutch). DPG Media. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  6. ^ Mazereeuw, Alex (4 September 2024). "'De jacht op Meral Ö.' is een (terecht) kwade film, die weinig probeert te vergoelijken". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). DPG Media. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  7. ^ le Duc, Eric (4 September 2024). "Bruut overheidssysteem vermorzelt alleenstaande moeder | recensie ★★★☆☆ - Dagblad van het Noorden". DVHN (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Film gemaakt over toeslagenaffaire: 'Zou goed zijn als iedereen deze kijkt'". RTL (in Dutch). 4 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.