Two artists meet one misty summer night in Rotterdam central, brought together by the green strobes and bumping bass of the underground rave scene. Taking a reprieve from the hot, heavy dance of ghetto house and all its inhabitants, crammed like sardines between the brick walls and DJ booth, I go to light a cigarette, exhaling the fumes discreetly out the corner of my mouth.
Rotterdam nightlife means community and unfiltered conversation, an ode to Dutch pragmatism. I’ve made many friends here but have also had a few less savory encounters. Nonetheless, to transcribe the many conversations I have had in club smoking areas would be a much-welcomed opportunity to go back in time and relive those moments. Community found by those across a similar place and time is as authentic as it is igniting to the creative soul. One such encounter struck a chord in me.
Abel van Essen is a young, fiery, ambitious filmmaker who wants to leave his mark on the world of poetic film. In our conversations, he revealed how he has been working on his film project “Gevleugelde” since the winter of 2022, when the first ideas of narrating a story of adolescent challenge and true friendship blossomed. This not in your typical “friendship is magic” story. No, Abel goes beyond the boundaries of the coming-of-age stories we know and love, instead weaving together three people and their desires for freedom.
What resonated deeply with me was the notion of stories that are true — true in the sense that they are true to him, true to his idea of the world. We discussed the importance of authenticity in art, especially in relation to his own works. In 2018, he started out taking virtual classes; at Amsterdam Open Studios, he discovered an authentic passion for film and for art. Abel described to me the feeling that “the gates of heaven opened” in his mind, and he saw how he could express himself and reach others through his work. His first piece featured the true story of a girl and her brother working in a fireworks factory in China.
And, beyond the film’s complexity, there’s a certain amount of letting go and trusting the process, as an artist. For example, in how this piece will be submitted and vetted before it is published, therefore creating something that is open to interpretation.
Having gone from possessing very little experience during that first mixed-media project, he has now started work on his latest film project, “Gevleugelde,” which in Dutch means winged one. “Gevleugelde” explores the relationships of a young man called Adelio; his closest friend, Ravi; and Una, the girl of his dreams. Authenticity in Abel’s storytelling is found in the small details of his process; for instance, he shared with me how Ravi is based on his own best friend.
Through subsequent conversations, both in-person and on the phone, we discussed the joy of creating art from experience, memories, and, most importantly, dreams. Despite the characters’ individual struggles they are never entirely lost in their own worlds but are, instead, bound by invisible threads. There are quiet moments of Adelio as he reconciles his desire for love and comfort: Although he’s had a lack of stable parental figures, there is also this intense desire to be seen by Una or guided by the kindness and prophecies of Ravi. I was inspired by Abel’s perspective on running from one’s feelings, which he tries to show in many of his characters. Despite this running, these unseen connections drew the three of them together, even when they were unsure about confronting the world around them.
Abel’s own experiences in terms of reliance on his artistic community are shown through the fictional Ravi, who helps expand Adelio’s horizons and, at times, neutralize the more cynical voice within Adelio.
In today’s fast-paced society, Abel also emphasized the importance of having trust in one’s own artistic process, an ode to his cinematic muse, Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, who focuses especially on slowing the pace for the audience. Of course, the work itself takes a long time, too: Since 2022, Abel told me he has revised the script 35 times. I laughed (using an LOL emoji) in my text back, admitting most of my articles don’t go beyond two drafts. An artistic vision comes to life naturally, in its own way, when done with true intention, something that speaks truly to how we connect with those around us. It may be instant gratification; it may take time to discover or find the right words. Both Tarkovsky and Abel showcase the effectiveness of having a slower pace.
Gevleugelde” dips into themes of loneliness and connection. According to filmmaker Abel van Essen, “We are not meant to be lonely; we are meant to be in touch with each other. We are pack animals.”
Characters transform in Abel’s film, such as the young Adelio, who discovers his desire to “fly” as he develops a strong connection to Ravi. So much of the character development comes down to the one key theme we focused on for much of our conversation — community. This idea that we are pack animals, and so Ravi, Adelio, and Una’s intertwined relationships and experiences, both together and in their lonelier moments, are always rectified by the discovery, rediscovery, and embrace of community. Community shows us our wings.
Over time, we talked about his long-term experience in filmmaking, about his discovery that his calling as an artist did not involve making easily digestible films to be shown at festivals or at Hollywood, but films that somehow provide a contrast to the skyscraper world of cities such as Rotterdam or London.
And, beyond the film’s complexity, there’s a certain amount of letting go and trusting the process, as an artist. For example, in how this piece will be submitted and vetted before it is published, therefore creating something that is open to interpretation. This metamorphosis happens only when we let go of this feeling we have as writers, artists, or filmmakers: namely, that we have failed an audience simply because they didn’t get it.
Abel’s characters don’t just tell the story to us; they are the story. They are the stories we know all too well of sitting in a room full of people and thinking “who am I?” and “why am I not in the same place as everyone else?” Adelio embodies the primal choice of fight or flight — for lack of a better term for times of uncertainty. Maybe if I hadn’t shared these views on the need for community, my first meeting with Abel would have ended with nothing more than “So nice to meet you. Good luck!” Fortunately, through its dream-like sequences, “Gevleugelde” also teaches us to embrace the people around us.
