Still: We Are Animals / Thijs Bouman

We Are Animals (a special screening in Sitges) is being billed as one of the first ever Dutch vampire movies. It’s set in Amsterdam after dark and focuses on the relationship between a lonely young nursing assistant Bram (Monk Dagelet) and the mysterious, charismatic but dark and dangerous Vos (Jeff Hellemans).

The 51-minute short marks the fourth collaboration between director Thijs Bouman and his friend and screenwriter Dajo Leung (a fellow graduate from the Netherlands Film Academy). The duo is also currently collaborating on a new series.

We Are Animals was made for Dutch streamer Videoland. It may feature bloodletting and death but it has a deep vein of romanticism too. As its director acknowledges, it is reminiscent of such recent pictures as Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All and the queer werewolf drama My Animal in its combination of the macabre and the lyrical. We Are Animals was already in production when these films were released.

“I think it’s something in the zeitgeist,” Bouman reflects. He describes the film as being “about self-acceptance…our protagonists are queer but we explicitly didn't want the drama to come out of that fact. It is also never mentioned in the film and maybe that's also refreshing for a change.”

Choosing the right faces was crucial. The film’s financiers were keen to have well-known actors but Bouman’s instinct is “always to work with actors we don’t know.” Consequently there was a lengthy audition process. “I think casting is everything. If you cast right, the job doesn’t need to be that hard,” the director says.

Monk Dagelet is the son of famous Dutch actor, Hans Dagelet. His last role was four years ago but the director was convinced he would be right for Bram, a character who is “shy, introverted, a bit hard to read.”

Jeff Hellemans, meanwhile, is Belgian. “His acting is really intense and convincing. I looked for a non-Dutch speaking actor for this role because that would also give a slight mysterious touch, and there's a smaller chance someone would know him.”

The two actors rehearsed extensively to build up the right rapport. They were shooting scenes that were both intimate and sometimes very gory. Production itself took place at breakneck pace. The entire schedule was less than a fortnight. “It was an intense shoot,” Bouman says with obvious understatement.

The filmmakers were using a disused old hospital as one of their main bases, which they repainted. “We wanted to have a colour palette with a lot of greens…green makes everything a bit more grimy, darker, dirtier.”

Production company New Amsterdam Films (the outfit behind Jim Taihuttu’s The East) came on board the project in advance of shooting.

We Are Animals was launched on Videoland in September. Its director is already busy with other projects which are very different in tone. His series Hogweed, aimed at kids, is a spin-off from his 2022 short of the same name, also scripted by Dajo Leunge and which looks at youngsters dealing with “invisible poverty” when their parents can’t afford to pay the bills. These kids are resourceful and enterprising - and still find ways to enjoy themselves. 

The aim is to shoot next summer. Bouman probably won’t be directing every episode but it will still be a very ambitious endeavour.

Further into the future, the director, who comes from a comedy background, hopes to shoot his debut feature. “I am still developing ideas but one thing I know is that I want to make something that is totally different from what I made before. I want to surprise myself every project,” he declares. “I joke with Dajo a lot about maybe making a musical because I hate musicals and he loves musicals. Let’s make a musical that I would like to watch. You need to excite yourself, that is the most important thing.”

We Are Animals is produced by New Amsterdam Film Company, in co-production with Black Bee Productions. The film was developed as part of the Videoland Academy.