A film about gambling, winning and losing in the broadest sense of the words, based on the director’s memories of his father. Childhood memories of innocent fun and games give way to depictions of later high-risk ventures, life-threatening antics and inveterate gambling addiction. The film is a son’s personal quest to find his father and an in-depth examination of the real gambler’s soul. A search for the universal tragedy behind hardened risk-taking and the reality of how the tension and the ecstasy contrast with the pain and the loneliness. The director focuses on three gamblers: a bookie, a poker player and a criminal roulette addict who know all about winning and losing. In this way he delves artistically into the mysterious mind of his father, who was not just a gambler, but a player of life.
John Appel was born in 1958. Has worked as a professional cameraman/director since '87. Appel studied Classical Languages and Literature in the University of Amsterdam and graduated as cameraman and documentary director at the Dutch Film and Television Academy. In 2000, established a production company with filmmaker Heddy Honigmann (VOF Appel&Honigmann). Appel is a Guest lecturer at the Dutch Film and Television Academy (since 2000) and many (inter)national workshops; Commissioning editor for HUMAN, Coach for young professional filmmakers, among his other activities.
Andre Hazes / She Believes in Me (1999), The Last Victory (2004), The Player (2009)
