Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in
Amsterdam, where she also attended
drama school. She has acted on stage as well as in films. She participated in 27 movies. Her first film was
Mira in 1971.
Success with ''Antonia's Line'' She later starred in the award-winning feminist film ''
Antonia's Line'', which tells the story of an independent woman who, after returning to the anonymous Dutch village of her birth, establishes and nurtures a close-knit
matriarchal community. She received positive reviews and the
Golden Calf for Best Actress for her performance and the film enjoyed critical success, including the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the
68th Academy Awards. Emanuel Levy, writing for
The Advocate, wrote "It's easy to see why" the film was winning awards in festivals, calling it "an enchanting fairy tale that maintains a consistently warm, lighthearted feel," and Willeke van Ammelrooy wonderful.
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times called it "a work of magical feminism." The film also screened at the
Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People's Choice Award. According to
Box Office Mojo, the film completed its run grossing $4,228,275 in North America, 1,660,901 admissions in the
European Union, and $21,046 in
South Korea.
Other work In 2017, van Ammelrooy was announced as a member of the film jury for
ShortCutz Amsterdam, an annual
film festival promoting short films in Amsterdam. == Personal life ==