Anne+ / Beş + Q&A with Valerie Bisscheroux

After a successful web series about twentysomething Anne there is a feature movie. The makers wanted to tell a story that doesn’t dwell on the negative experiences of queer people, but instead show all the joy of the community. 

In this continuation of the series they widen their horizons and look beyond Anne’s sexuality and her group of friends by introducing, for example, the character Lou. The non binary Lou, played by the also non binary actor Thorn de Vries, brings many euphoric queer moments partially because of their career as a drag king. Apart from that Anne herself of course has enough drama she’s got to deal with. She has to find out what she wants to do with her relationship with Sara, who now lives abroad and who she will soon follow. But does Anne really want to leave her friends in Amsterdam. And how do her feelings for Lou fit into this? 

The film is a great watch when you know the characters already, but it also is a pleasant introduction to anyone who wants to meet Anne.

Beş

In combination with Anne+ the short Beş is screened. Directed by Ayla Çekin Satijn, who plays Maya in Anne+, this short film tells the story of Asli, a young, Turkish, lesbian woman. She returns to her hometown for a party of one of her childhood friends. At first she’s scared she will not be accepted by this community because of her sexual identity, however then she realizes that she has fallen prey to prejudices and that everything might look very different than expected.

Q&A met Valerie Bisscheroux
Valerie graduated as a producer from the Netherlands Film Academy in 2017. She was nominated for the 2017 FPN Award, partly because of her project plan for ANNE+, also her directorial debut. In 2018, Valerie was nominated for ANNE+ in the Debut Competition at the Netherlands Film Festival. She then developed and directed ANNE+ season 2 (8x 25 min). Valerie focuses on positive and nuanced representation of LGBTQ+ characters and storylines in films and series, and on strong female roles. She is currently working on her first feature film (international co-production), and is developing several projects for both film and television, including a black-comic road trip and a historical drama.