Director Nathini Van Der Meer has come aboard the directorial roster of L.A.-based Mutt Film, marking her first production house roost in the U.S. A Berlin native, Van Der Meer studied design and began her career in film in front of the camera as a model and actress in commercials. This experience aided her in transitioning behind the camera, first working on photo productions and fashion editorials, eventually moving into directing. Her work has been featured in magazines including Elle, Vogue, WWD and Harpers Bazaar.
Her cinematic focus on fashion and personal experience as a designer in the field scored Van Der Meer her first spot directing gig–for the launch of adidas’ Tubular sneaker. In the online commercial, Van Der Meer parallels the Tubular’s design inspiration of Berlin’s brutalist modern architecture with close-up details of the shoe’s shapes and textures. She has done several more pieces for adidas since then. In her latest work for adidas’ Prophere line, released in December 2017, she juxtaposes the atmosphere of a gritty Berlin warehouse with the sportswear brand’s latest futuristic AR experience. Van Der Meer has also directed music videos, fashion films and campaigns for clients including China Weekly and the travel apps Moovon, and Here.
Van Der Meer’s fashion film The Last Frontier was launched by Vogue Germany and brings all of her energy and talent to bear. The eclectic cast and vignette-like storytelling reflect the kind of work Mutt will pursue for her.
Mutt director/partner Jonathan Hyde described Van Der Meer as “a fierce talent. We met in Berlin a few years ago and I have always wanted to collaborate here in the U.S. She is going to do some really cool and innovative work for us. “
Mutt EP Beth George added, “Nathini brings a very natural but edgy look to her projects. She sees everything through a designer’s lens and shapes her approach from there.”
Van Der Meer sees advertising as being “a significant part of pop culture.” She observed, “What we see on television and on the internet subconsciously shapes our future opinions, dreams and desires. We stand on the verge of a huge paradigm shift; the internet has made it possible for the formerly passive viewer to communicate back to us and give the people behind the camera a better idea of what moves them. I see my work in film as a chance to communicate with my audience and address exciting new ideas and subject matters.“
Van Der Meer is not signed exclusively with a production company in Europe. She independently directs fashion fare there, frequently through production houses Aboutkokomo in Berlin and Rosco Production in London.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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