Dormant

Niels Bourgonje

Niels Bourgonje is a fiction / commercial director based in Amsterdam. Driven by a huge desire to never repeat himself. This diversity can be found in his fiction work, where Niels has directed drama, horror and comedy films. His films were selected for Academy Award and BAFTA qualifying festivals and have won more than 200 awards. His latest film, the psychological horror SHUT, won the Méliès d’argent in 2023. Niels’ horror short film SWIPE is being adapted into a feature screenplay by Timur Bekmanbetov’s Bazelevs. He is repped by Sukee Chew – Hopscotch Pictures

Director Statement

Director’s Statement: It’s the one thing we are too scared to talk about, but everyone thinks about: infidelity. Even though we all want to believe in happily ever after, the reality of a relationship isn’t always a fairytale. I speak from personal experience that a transgression can destroy your partnership. The fear and paranoia I felt that my partner would find out I cheated on her is what inspired ‘Dormant’. Like Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, I wanted to make a film about a man consumed by guilt who is slowly losing his mind. A man we are not quite sure we want to emphasize with. Like my previous short horror films ‘Shut’ and ‘Swipe’, I’m interested in telling stories about our dark side. Isn’t a nightmare scarier when you feel it isn’t too far off from reality?