FILM DIRECTOR THEO VAN GOGH KILLED

This morning the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam. This is confirmed by the police and his producer G. van Westerlaken. Eye witnesses saw the murderer kill Van Gogh with a gun and with a knife. Since Van Gogh was very controversial, the murder stir up memories of the murder on Pim Fortuyn.

Theo van Gogh was killed at the moment that he left the office of the local authorities in the east of Amsterdam . He managed to get to the other side of the street, but the shooter managed to hit him a second time. The offender fled into a park and on the moment he tired to escape the park he was surrounded by police officers.

During an exchange of fire a police officer was hit in the chest and the suspect was hit in the leg. After this he was arrested. It came out that the suspect also has been stabbing Van Gogh in the chest. Nothing is known about the identity or the motive of the suspect.

Theo van Gogh was a very controversial person. Most of the time he was looking for ways to shock people. One of the last projects of Van Gogh was the film Submission, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In this film veiled women actresses are talking about the abuse and mistreatment in the name of Islam. One of the most striking things in the film is the fact it is possible to see the nakedness of the women through their veils. The film evoked a lot of criticism, especially from Muslims in The Netherlands. Ayaan Hirsi Ali stated that also Muslims turn to her to support her quest against the negative sides of the Islam.

Theo van Gogh was born on the 23 of July 1957 in The Hague . He always stated that he was family of Vincent van Gogh. After he broke off his law studies he made his debut with the movie 'Luger' in 1981. He made several movies and even starred himself in the film Noorderlingen.

Van Gogh was very active in the debates and in his columns. Regularly he took up a very hateful position. According to co-workers he was very amiable on the film set. Van Gogh himself claimed that this position emanated from opportunism. To him actors preformed better when he was nice to them.

Most of the films Theo van Gogh directed were low-budget movies. After some of his films were very successful financers were willing to put money in his projects. The film Van Gogh was working on is called 0605, the 6th of May 2002, the day that the also controversial Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was killed. In December this year the film will be presented on internet and in January 2005 the film will be shown in the cinema. more features

November 2, 2004