Dick Maas


Dirk Herman Willem Maas is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, film producer and film composer.

Career

Maas achieved fame after the success of his music videos for the Dutch band Golden Earring, including "Twilight Zone" and the controversial "When the Lady Smiles," and his films De Lift, Amsterdamned and Flodder in the 1980s. Maas also directed the controversial Saint Nicolas slasher Sint and one episode of the TV series Young Indiana Jones. The film Karakter won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998. Maas served as executive producer. The film was produced by his production company First Floor Features, founded in 1984. He left the company, which he started with Laurens Geels, in 2002.
His 2016 film Prey became an unexpected box office hit in China cinemas in 2019. It is also the first Dutch film to secure a wide theatrical release in China. The film was retitled as Violent Fierce Lion.
An authorized documentary about his career titled De Dick Maas Methode premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival on September 27, 2020, in Utrecht.
In 1998 he wrote his first thriller, titled Salvo. In 2016 followed by a book in which he wrote about his career as a filmmaker. The Naked Witness is the title of his 2021 book based on his 1988 film Amsterdamned. According to Maas it is the first in a series of books based on this film.
In December 2023 Maas announced that he is working on a sequel to his 1988 film Amsterdamned. Filming started in September of 2024. The film was released in December 2025. Huub Stapel again plays the leading role. On the first day the film attracted 8820 paying visitors, making it the most successful opening for a Dutch film in 2025.

Personal life

Dick Herman Willem Maas was born on 15 April 1951 in Heemstede in the Netherlands. His mother was actress Inge Beekman. The father of Inge, his grandfather he never knew, was Wim Beekman, KLM captain who was killed during the 1934 KLM Douglas DC-2 crash.
Maas is married to fellow film director Esmé Lammers, a granddaughter of Max Euwe, World Chess Champion 1935–1937.

Filmography

As Director

Music videos

  • 1982 – "Twilight Zone" – Golden Earring
  • 1984 – "Clear Night Moonlight" – Golden Earring
  • 1984 – "When the Lady Smiles" – Golden Earring
  • 1988 – "Amsterdamned" – Loïs Lane
  • 1988 – " Haunted Guitar " – Billy Falcon
  • 1989 – " Turn The World Around " – Golden Earring
  • 1997 – "Burning Stuntman" – Golden Earring
  • 1997 – " Dance in the Light " – Mai Tai
  • 2003 – " Afscheid Nemen Bestaat Niet " – Marco Borsato
  • 2004 – " Laat me Gaan " – Marco Borsato

    Shorts

  • Historia Morbi – 1974
  • Picknick- 1975
  • Adelbert – 1977
  • Bon Bon – 1979
  • Onder De Maat – 1979
  • Overval – 1979
  • Idylle – 1979
  • Rigor Mortis – 1980
  • Long Distance – 2003

    Television

  • Flodder
  • ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''

    Features

  • 1983 – The Lift
  • 1986 – Flodder
  • 1988 – Amsterdamned
  • 1992 – Flodder in America
  • 1995 – Flodder 3
  • 1999 – Do Not Disturb
  • 2001 – Down
  • 2007 – Killer Babes
  • 2010 – Sint
  • 2012 – Quiz
  • 2016 – Prey
  • 2025 – ''Amsterdamned II''

    As Producer

Features

  • 1986 – Abel
  • 1990 – Wings of Fame
  • 1990 – My Blue Heaven
  • 1991 – Oh Boy!
  • 1992 – The Northerners
  • 1995 – Long Live the Queen
  • 2002 – ''Tom & Thomas''

    Executive

  • 1997 – Character
  • 1999 – De rode zwaan
  • 2002 – Valentín
  • 2003 – Resistance
  • 2024 – ''''