A Life in Stop Motion: A Journey From Benefits to Award-Winning Young Filmmaker

A tale of existential questioning captured in the medium of stop motion, Hendrikus De Vaan’s short 4-minute film “Disappear”, single-handedly made while on benefit checks, has received acclaim at film festivals the world over. From Danny Boyle to Booker-Prize winning author DBC Pierre, 25-year-old De Vaan’s labor of love has sparked attention in the art world, pushing the young filmmaker into the limelight.

Being passionate about films all his life, Hendrikus, known to most as “Harrie”, spent most of his childhood with a camera in hand. Growing up on dairy farms in New Zealand and being a high school drop out at the age of 16, life was never quite normal for Harrie, who worked a series of minimum wage jobs before studying make-up and special effects artistry before taking a 3-month course in Applied Film and Television Production at the New Zealand Film Academy, as well as studying at New Zealand Film and Television School…

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