Theo van Gogh

Theodoor van Gogh (; 23 July 1957 – 2 November 2004) was a Dutch film director. He directed Submission: Part 1, a short film written by Somali writer and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which criticised the treatment of women in Islam in strong terms. On 2 November 2004, he was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist who objected to the film's message. The last film Van Gogh had completed before his murder, 06/05, was a fictional exploration of the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. It was released posthumously in December 2004, a month after Van Gogh's death, and two years after Fortuyn's death. Early life Theodoor van Gogh was born on 23 July 1957, in The Hague to Anneke and Johan van Gogh. His father served in the Dutch secret service (AIVD, then called BVD). He was named after his paternal uncle Theo, who was captured and executed while working as a resistance fighter during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. Theo van Gogh was a great-grandson of Theo van Gogh, an art dealer who was the brother of painter Vincent van Gogh. Career After dropping out of law school at the University of Amsterdam, Van Gogh became a stage manager. His self-proclaimed passion was filmmaking, and he made his debut as a director with the movie Luger (1981). He was awarded a Gouden Kalf for Blind Date (1996) and In het belang van de staat ("In the Interest of the State", 1997). For the latter, he also received a "Certificate of Merit" from the San Francisco International Film Festival. As an actor, he appeared in the film, De noorderlingen ("The Northerners", 1992). He made numerous films (see below), many on political themes. From the 1990s, Van Gogh also worked in television.