Graduated from the Film Academy in 2009, he developed a distinctive style of filmmaker resulting in internationally awarded films such as Time within Time (2009), Via Dolorosa (2013) and Face to Face (2014).
Besides documentaries, video-clips and experimental films, Menno Otten directed several video-installations, mainly consisting ofFound Footage material. These works have been commissioned by companies like Samsung (2012), Sikkens (2010), Philips (2010), The Dutch Royal Concert Hall (2012), the Eye Film Museum (2012) and more recent the Maritiem Museum in Rotterdam (2020).His video-art work Girl Reading Letter at an Open Window, in which Menno Otten explores the possibilities of moving light within the work of Johannes Vermeer, was exhibited at the Museum Prinsenhof in Delft and at the Pushkin Museum of Arts in Moscow and is part of several privat collections.
For his video-installation Moving Mesdag, Menno Otten teamed up with Samsung and ConspiracySinc to bring to life the famous Dutch masterpiece Panorama Mesdag. This ambitious video-installation was completed in 2016 and was shown on fourteen 85" inch curved screens and displayed in front of the famous Rijksmuseum among other key locations in the Netherlands. Moving Mesdag attracted more then 65.000 visitors in 3 weeks.
Summer 2017, Menno Otten brought the multi-media installation "City Faces" to the Triumph Gallery in Moscow. Besides video-installations, Menno Otten showed a collection of more then thirty portraits he shot between 2010 and 2015 at one and the same tramstop in Amsterdam.
As an editor Menno Otten worked on several documentaries and video-installations. Editing work include Submarine Channel's "Unspeak", Peter Delpeut's "One hand Clapping" (Winner DDG Award) and "Dedicated to Dance", Jaap van Heusden's "A.sy.lum" (Nominated for a Gouden Kalf), Masha Osipova's "Sanatorium" (nominated at CameraImage Festival) and more recent Misja Pekel's feature documentary: "Maalstroom".
In 2019 Menno created and directed the television series: HOOFDZAKEN (Talking Heads) for Dutch Broadcaster VPRO. In 2020 the second and third season of Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) aired on national television and a total of 50 episodes where made since then. Winner of the Prix de Jeunesse "Hearts and Jury" prize, nominated for the Japan Prize (2020 and 2021), nominated for a Rose D'or (2021) and nominated twice for Cinekid (Amsterdam). The rights to Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) are sold to Beta Film Europe.
Since 2010 Menno Otten is teaching Directing Documentary, Film History and Film Theory at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam.
Activities
| Year | Role | Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 - 2021 | Teacher: Film in Context & Documentary Directing | Netherlands Film Academy |
| 2010 - 2021 | Coaching and advice | Various directors and filmmakers |
| 2013 - 2021 | Treasurer | DDL Foundation |
| 2011 - 2018 | Teacher | Open Studio - Media School |
| 2014 - 2016 | Advisory Committee | Dutch Media Fund |
| 2015 | Jury Member | NFF Jury member for Gouden Kalf Nominations - Short Documentary |
Education
| Year | Organisation | Studies |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 - 2009 | Netherlands Film Academy | Directing Documentary |
| 2003 - 2004 | Open studio | Directing |
| 2001 - 2002 | Vrije Hoge School | General Art Education |
Filmography
| Year | Project | Catagory | Production Company | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Maritiem Museum | Video-installation | InnerVisions & Kinkorn | 2 x 2 screens |
| 2021 | Hoofdzaken / Talking Heads Season 3 | Documentary series | Kepler Film | VPRO | 13 x 15 minutes |
| 2020 | Hoofdzaken / Talking Heads Season 2 | Documentary series | Kepler Film | VPRO | 15 x 15 minutes |
| 2019 | Hoofdzaken / Talking Heads Season 1 | Documentary series | Kepler Film | VPRO | 13 x 15 minutes |
| 2018 | Maalstroom (as editor) | Documentary | Selfmade Films | 60 minutes |
| 2018 | Sanatorium (as editor) | Documentary | Masha Osipova | VPRO | 15 minutes |
| 2017 | City Faces - Photography | Solo Exhibition | Triumph Gallery - Moscow | July 2017 |
| 2017 | Asylum by Jaap van Heusden (as editor) | Documentary | Baldr Films / VPRO | 25 minutes |
| 2017 | WA 50 (as editor) | Commissioned Work | Koninklijk Paleis de Dam / Kinkorn BV | 4 x 15 minutes |
| 2015 | Dedicated to Dance by Peter Delpeut (as editor) | Documentary | Selfmade Films / NCRV | 25 minutes |
| 2015 | Moving Mesdag | Video-art | Samsung / CONSPIRACYSINC / Mesdag | 14 screens |
| 2015 | De Storm | Video-art / Documentary | KNRM Museum / Kinkorn BV | 4 x 15 minutes |
| 2015 | Framing Vermeer | Solo Exhibition | Museum Prinsenhof Delft | March 2015 |
| 2014 | Pelgrimage | Video-art | M.A.S Museum Antwerpen | |
| 2014 | Sysyphus | Video-art | Eye Filmmuseum | 5 minutes |
| 2014 | Face to Face | Documentary | Trueworks / VPRO / Mediafund | 25 minutes |
| 2014 | One Hand Clapping (as editor) | Video-art | IDTVdocs | 5 screens |
| 2013 | Girl Reading Letter at an Open Window | Video-art | InnerVisions | |
| 2013 | Via Dolorosa | Documentary | Innervisions / Baldr Films | 15 minutes |
| 2013 | 200 Jaar Oranje | Video-art | Beeld –en Geluid / InnerVisions | 24-screens |
| 2013 | Unspeak | Web Documentary | Submarine BV | online |
| 2012 | Philips Museum | Video-art | CTM/Lev Pictures | 30 screens |
| 2012 | Dutch Tulip Museum | Video-art | Innervisions | 2 screens |
| 2012 | See You Once Again | Video-clip | Goeroe Media / Universal | +- 4 minutes |
| 2012 | Colour | Documentary | Selfmade Film / Akzo Nobel | 10 minutes |
| 2009 | City Faces | Video-art | Revolver Films | 6 screens |
| 2009 | Time within Time | Documentary | NFTA | 18 minutes |
| 2008 | Weg | Short fiction | NFTA | 5 minutes |
| 2007 | Nachtwake | Documentary | NFTA | 8 minutes |
| 2006 | Milkmaid and other paintings | Video-art | SBBrood – Innervisions | |
| 2006 | U-gene | Video-clip | InnerVisions VOF | 4 minutes |
Selection of awards and nominations:
| Year | Type | Organisation | Description | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Nomination | Rose D'or | Youth | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2021 | Nomination | Cinekid | Best Dutch non-fiction series | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2021 | Award | Japan Prize | Best youth series | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads S03) |
| 2021 | Nomination | Cinekid Festival | Jury Prize | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2020 | Award | Prix Jeunesse | Hearts Prize | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2020 | Award | Prix Jeunesse | Jury Prize | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2021 | Nomination | Japan Prize | Best youth series | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads S02) |
| 2019 | Nomination | Cinekid Festival | Jury Prize | Hoofdzaken (Talking Heads) |
| 2019 | Nomination | Cinekid Festival | Best Dutch Series | Hoofdzaken |
| 2018 | Award | Prix Europe | Second Prize | Maalstroom by Misja Pekel |
| 2016 | Award | Esprix Awards | Silver Esprix Sponsorship Award | Moving Mesdag |
| 2016 | Nominated | European Sponsorship Awards | Arts & Culture | Moving Mesdag |
| 2016 | Nominated | Rights Holder Achievement Award | Brand Events | Moving Mesdag |
| 2016 | Nominated | Gouden Giraffe | Brand Events | Moving Mesdag |
| 2016 | Nominated | Sponsor Ring Awards | Arts & Culture | Moving Mesdag |
| 2014 | Award | Dutch Directors Guild | Best short documentary | Face to Face |
| 2014 | Award | Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival | Best Cinematography | Via Dolorosa |
| 2014 | Award | Cinetrofa Portugal | Best Mid-lenght Documentary | Via Dolorosa |
| 2014 | Award | Dutch Director Guild | Best Short Documentary 2013 | Via Dolorosa |
| 2014 | Nominated | Netherlands Film Festival | Best Debut Film | Via Dolorosa |
| 2014 | Screening | IDFA | Paradocs Program | Via Dolorosa |
| 2014 | Screening | Sante Fe New Media Festival | Documentary Program | Via Dolorosa |
| 2010 | Award | Cinestud | Grand Jury Prize | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Award | VPRO | Best Documentary | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Nominated | IDFA | Best Student Documentary | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | Shanghai World Expo | Solo Exhibition | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | M.A.D Museum, NYC | Group Exhibition | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | FOAM | Group Exhibition | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | Internation Documentary Film Festival | In competition Sheffield | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | Film Festival Anger | In competition Plans | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | Silhouette Film Festival Paris | In competition | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2010 | Screening | World Film Festival | In competition | In een Vergeten Moment |
| 2009 | Award | Film Festival, Paris | Grand Prix Silhouette | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Award | Film Festival St. Petersburg | Best Documentary | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Festival de Cine de Alcalá de Henares - Madrid | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Festival Signes de Nuit | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Indie Lisboa - Lisboa | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Mecal Barcelona Student Film Festival - Barcelona | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Breaking Ground Filmfestival - Utrecht | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | International Film Festival of Film Schools - Munich | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Clermont-Ferrand France | Selection | Nachtwake |
| 2009 | Screening | Rencontres Henri Langlois | Selection | Nachtwake |