page_title: Paul Verhoeven
section_title: Return to Europe (2006–present)
hierarchical_section_title: Paul Verhoeven / Career / Return to Europe (2006–present)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Paul Verhoeven bei der Pressekonferenz der Internationalen Jury zur Berlinale 2017
context_page_description: Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch director, screenwriter and film producer active in both the Netherlands and Hollywood. Verhoeven's blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. He directed the films Turkish Delight, Keetje Tippel, Soldier of Orange, Spetters, The Fourth Man, Flesh and Blood, RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Starship Troopers, Hollow Man, Black Book and Elle.
  Turkish Delight received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. His films altogether received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects. Verhoeven won the Saturn Award for Best Director for RoboCop. His Dutch war film Black Book was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and was voted by the Dutch public, in 2008, as the best Dutch film ever made. In contrast, he won the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director for Showgirls; he is one of the few people to have accepted their Golden Raspberry awards in person, and was the first person to go to the ceremony to receive it.
context_section_description: After about 20 years of working and living in the United States, Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands for the shooting of a new film. Together with his screenwriter Gerard Soeteman, Verhoeven made Black Book (2006). The director was hailed by the host of the Netherlands Film Festival with the words "The return of a hero." Black Book won six Golden Calves at this festival, including Best Director. When the shooting of Black Book was delayed due to financial issues, there was speculation about a new production. The film Beast of Bataan had been announced, but once the shooting for Black Book resumed, the other film was not realized.
  Verhoeven was knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2007.
  Since Black Book, Verhoeven has been connected to a large number of projects, but in the first decade after his return, none came to fruition. Some of those titles were produced with other directors at the helm, such as The Paperboy. In 2016 however, Verhoeven followed Black Book by directing a French film: Elle, an adaptation of a novel by Philippe Djian. A psycho-thriller where Isabelle Huppert plays a rape victim, Elle was selected for the Official Competition at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it obtained very favourable reviews.
  In December 2016, it was announced that Verhoeven would be the president of the jury for the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, scheduled to take place in February 2017.
  In April 2017, Benedetta, his next French film, was announced to begin filming in August of the same year. It is a biographical film about the life of Benedetta Carlini, which will be portrayed by Elle co-star Virginie Efira, and is an adaptation of the non-fiction book Immodest Acts - The life of a lesbian nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown. In May 2018, Charlotte Rampling was announced to play a key supporting role.
caption: Verhoeven at press conference at Berlinale 2017
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