Director Caatje van Leeuwen's Cinema Collaboratorium to Sponsor 12th Annual LA Femme Film Festival

Caatje van Leeuwen is a Dutch-born filmmaker who is dedicated to creating motion pictures that tell inspiring, slice of life stories that weave larger social issues with intimate glimpses into the relationships of everyday people. The result is a series of short films that aim to go beyond the inherent beauty of filmmaking as an art form to the beauty of life itself, inspiring hope from otherwise dark corners. Crafted by a team of people that believes creative storytelling can make a difference in the world.

To that end, she is an investor in and her Sun Cat Productions is a founding partner of Cinema Collaboratorium, a Los Angeles based film studio. Cinema Collaboratorium will be a sponsor of the 12th Annual LA Femme Film Festival. Cinema Collaboratorium is a North Hollywood based film and video production facility. Van Leeuwen will also be a panelist at both LA Femme and Columbia College on an educational seminar panel entitled Point of Entry: Breaking into the Entertainment Industry with your Short Film or Web Series.

In addition to directing, she is also a producer, writer, and actor. Over the past couple of years, van Leeuwen has been creating a blazing trail of honored short films at such venues as the Cannes Film Festival, the New York Short Film Festival and the 48 Hour Film Project Amsterdam.

Van Leeuwen was born in Holland and received her Masters degree from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. She apprenticed at small production companies in the Netherlands and eventually got her break with her short film "William" and solidified with her short "Jan", about the duality of love.

Her most recent film "The Upper Crust - The Movie", based on a successful stage play that she wrote and appeared in throughout the Netherlands, was featured at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in the Court Metrage Short Film venue. "The Upper Crust" will make its US debut at the upcoming LA Femme International Film Festival, October 20 - 23, 2016 in Beverly Hills.

Van Leeuwen's acclaimed short "William", deals with the relationship between a young mother and her brilliant but autistic son.

"The refined marriage of poetic simplicity and narrative complexity speaks to the directors great talent and inspired vision. After finishing I couldn't help but imagine the fantastic career ahead of her," states Michael Curran-Dorsano, president of Cinema Collaboratorium.

"An exquisitely deep, character driven story that touches the heart and resonates with meaning," said Steve Smith, Stagecoach Entertainment.

The short, written, directed and produced by van Leeuwen, was co-directed by Richard Valk. "William" is now being developed into a full-length feature film that van Leeuwen will direct. Her upcoming web series "Clockwork Chronicles" is a Science fiction adventure following an off-beat time traveler as he races against the clock to stop mysterious cracks in time from rewriting human history. While in Los Angeles she will shoot the upcoming short film "Leave" which starts production in October. "Leave," tells the story of the first integration of women into Navy warships. Set against the background of the US invasion of Haiti in 1995, the film focuses on a roughhewn sailor, comfortable in the traditional Navy ways, who is coping with his mother's illness. Based on an original script by Kurt Brindley, the film is a co-production with Cinema Collaboratorium.

Van Leeuwen is excited to tackle this based on actual events movie, as it recounts a little known period of US military history. "My challenge and passion lies in telling the story in between the facts, a story about people and the different shades of fear each of them experiences," she says. "To shine light on these universal human elements lets the audience feel compassion for those who speak cruel and often seem fearless."

Her latest music video "The Man for the Boy" written & composed by Blackbird, AKA Merel Koman, will debut in October 2016, just prior to commencement of filming for "Leave".

If van Leeuwen seems driven, it's because she has a definite vision to share in her films. "Filmmaking to me is a necessity. To create, to manifest, to tell stories that inspire and to live this life with such openness that all the stories that need to be told will emerge effortlessly," she states.

"We are all a story waiting to be told. That, to me, is the beauty of life and the beauty of filmmaking!"