Martin Koolhoven

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Martin Koolhoven (born April 25, 1969 in The Hague) is a Dutch film director.

Born as Martinus Wouter Koolhoven, Koolhoven graduated from Dutch film school in 1996 and almost immediately made an impact on the Dutch film industry with his 53 minute television film Duister Licht ("Dark Light") in which the slaughtering of a pig was shown. The film was nominated twice at the Dutch Film Festival.

It was his next (and first feature length) film however that established his name, also outside of the Netherlands. Suzy Q (also made for television) became the most awarded Dutch film of 1999 and established both Koolhoven's career and that of actress Carice van Houten, who Koolhoven worked with several times in the films to come.

His first film for the cinema, AmnesiA, got a small theatical release in New York. It is still the only film he made that got a commercial release in the United States.

Koolhoven started off with strongly stylized films that were all hailed by the critics, but never gained commercial succes. In 2005 that changed when he went into the mainstream with Schnitzel Paradise, that not only got him rave reviews (both inside and outside the Netherlands), but was the highest grossing Dutch film of that year. The film was shown at many international film festivals (amongst them the Berlin Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary Film Festival where it was part of the Variety Critic's choice.) The film was sold to more than 20 countries, which is a remarkable amount for a Dutch film.

In the same year Koolhoven released Bonkers, which internationally became his most awarded film and performed well at the box office. He also was the first director to have two films in the Dutch box office top 20.

'n Beetje Verliefd (2006) (Happy Family) was his third hit film in two years time, earning him another Golden Film.