GROEI – SUZANNE DE JONG (2020)

Thumbnail for Groei - Suzanne de Jong. Suzanne is standing in front of a microphone singing. She has shoulder length blonde hair, wears a white lacy top and is wearing red lipstick. Behind her is a blue light.
Still from Groei - Suzanne de Jong. Suzanne is standing in the middle of the frame in front of a microphone, singing. She has shoulder length blonde hair, wears a white lacy top and is wearing red lipstick. In the background is a back-up singer with short curly hair and a guitarist with long brown hair.
Still from Groei - Suzanne de Jong. A close-up shot from the side of a row of singers, all holding both of their index fingers up, wagging them like saying 'no'. Suzanne is in the front in focus, and there are 3 more singers in the background, getting blurrier the farther back. They are all wearing bright primary colours.
Still from Groei - Suzanne de Jong. A close-up shot of a guitarist. She is wearing a bright neon yellow/green top. Behind her is a bassist and a drummer.
Still from Groei - Suzanne de Jong. A medium shot of Suzanne sitting in front of a microphone with a guitar. She is looking down and wearing a white lacy top. The background is dark blue with twinkling lights.
Still from Groei - Suzanne de Jong. A splitscreen edit of a choir with 17 different singers, all have their own close-up shots. All are in black and white except for Suzanne, who is wearing a red dress with lace details.

28″07 – Dutch

Groei (Growth) is a 28 minute documentary/digital concert that was part of Suzanne de Jong’s graduation from the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU) as a music teacher; her Integrale Eindproductie (IEP). Usually, the students graduate with a live concert but because of the COVID-19 crisis Suzanne had to produce a video version of the concert.

The concert consists of 5 covers of songs and an original composed piece linked together with interviews of Suzanne and her co-students, who reflect on Suzanne’s time during her studies and her growth as a person. It touches on insecurity, self-doubt, boy troubles and ultimately growth and the gaining of confidence as a musician and teacher.

Songs covered are Only In Sleep by Ēriks Ešenvalds, Cherry Wine by Hozier, Let’s Generalize About Men from the tv show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Landslide by Fleetwood Mac and Last Hope by Paramore.

 

MUSICIANS

Suzanne de Jong, Romy Holman, Meike Feddema, Laura van Rhee, Joy Jansen, Cleo de Bruijn, Sophie Zondervan, Jay Veldhorst, Doris van Voorst, Job Uitgeest, Axel Blom, Niels Walta, Lars van der Meer, Joachim Grevelink, Roelof ter Poorten, Lucas van den Berg and Robin Meijer.

 

VIDEO CREDITS

Concept, directed and produced by Suzanne de Jong
Filmed mainly by Erik van Zoelen and Tijmen de Graaf
Edited by Eva Plompen
Songs produced and mixed by Erik van Zoelen
Materials loaned from Steven Geerts