Dutch artist, great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent Van Gogh known for his controversial work, Theo van Gogh was assassinated on November 2, 2004 while cycling in Amsterdam. A look back at the journey of a man “who couldn’t help making enemies,” according to those close to him.
Provocative, Theo van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker, columnist and writer. 20 years ago, on November 2, 2004, he was assassinated in the center of Amsterdam. At the time, police suspected a premeditated act.
His assassin, Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Moroccan-Dutch, allegedly acted in the name of radical Islam. The latter had fired at least 20 bullets using a Croatian weapon, hitting his victim eight times. He was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison for the murder.
Born July 23, 1957 in The Hague, Theo van Gogh was known for having directed “Submission” and being the author of around twenty low-budget films. He also encountered great difficulties in finding funding to carry them out.
An “affable and charming” man
Growing up in the city’s upscale suburbs, Theo van Gogh began and immediately abandoned law studies to devote himself to directing, fascinated by Stanley Kubrick’s film “A Clockwork Orange”.
Provocative, he had, among other things, called Muslims “goat fuckers” while denouncing the “exaggerated sentimentalism” of a member of the Jewish community in the Netherlands regarding the Holocaust, which earned him a reputation anti-Semitic. For these remarks, the latter was the subject of protection by the authorities for some time, but Theo van Gogh had boasted of losing his guardian angels.
His friends conceded that behind the “affable and charming” man was another “who cannot help but make enemies.” For his funeral, hundreds of people gathered in front of giant screens. Having become an almost national event, they were even broadcast live on television and public radio. “In the Netherlands, we have freedom of expression, politicians, filmmakers must not hide,” said his sister.
In France, authors and directors expressed their “deep emotion” after the murder of Theo Van Gogh. “The authors and directors wish to denounce this assassination and vigorously reaffirm their attachment to individual freedom in all its forms, freedom of thought, but also freedom of expression, without which freedom of creation could not even exist,” they said. they emphasized in a press release.
