The match (2008)

A documentary by Kees Hin and Sandra van Beek

“A few moments in your life always remain to haunt to. They may fade from your memory, but suddenly they return. Like a fire, lit by a personal detail, occasionally insignificant, occasionally sharp and important. After a major blaze, the fire may smoulder on underground and then flare up again unexpectedly in that special, unprotected place.”  Kees Hin

In a Dutch village, an 80-year-old widow was murdered. Everyone knew her. The inhabitants were all very restless. After four months of investigation, the police finally resorted to a modern technique to help solve the murder. Eighty men were asked to supply a saliva sample from which their unique DNA could be isolated. In the film, memories of that DNA testing are reconstructed and bring the time back to life. One by one, the men are asked to describe the experience, the moment when their lives were put to the test, like a photographic snapshot. Like 12 sworn men, they talk about what happened and think about what is important for them. They know now that an explosion of evil is always on the lookout. The film starts with the experiences of the painter Edvard Munch, who suddenly felt a trembling in fear and heard a scream of nature as he walked over the bridge. The title refers to the term used when DNA markers found at the scene of a crime match those of a suspect.

The film makers Kees Hin and Sandra van Beek previously made a reconstruction of a film fragment ‘Hitler schenkt den Juden eine Stadt’ from the war. They asked survivors and witnesses about their experiences and memories from the camp in the video installation ‘ Theresienstadt: Film or Truth (1995).


This film is available on DVD




Director: Kees Hin
Screenplay and research: Kees Hin en Sandra van Beek
Camera: Bernd Wouthuysen
Sound: Joris Ballegooien en Erik Langhout
Editing: Barbara Hin
Music: Jan Boerman
Grading: Ruud de Bruyn en Bernd Wouthuysen
Sound desin: Mark Glynne
Translation: Sandra van Beek en Martin Cleaver
Commissioning editors: Bert Janssens, John Appel, Peter Delpeut, Niek Koppen
Production: Sandra van Beek
Producer: Leen van den Berg

© Van der Hoop Filmproducties / HUMAN 2008