Threes Anna is trained as a visual artist. In 1985, Anna was engaged in theatre company Dogtroep, specialized in site specific theatre. In 1989, she becomes artistic leader of the company. Under her leadership, Dogtroep creates over fifty performances all over the world. The performances are developed into big visual spectacles with an international cast. Owing to the extent and complexity of the shows, she doesn’t perform herself from 1993 onwards, and concentrated on script writing and directing. Apart from her theatre work, she creates and produces documentaries about several different artists and Dogtroep. After a tragic accident in 1998, in which her partner in life and colleague Marco Biagioni dies, Threes Anna stops with Dogtroep and begins to develop feature films and writing novels.
Since 2003 Threes Anna has published seven novels, De kus van de weduwe ('The Widow’s Kiss'), Motormoeder ('Motor Mother', the very first Dutch novel to be downloaded and read on mobile phone), De stille stad ('Silent City'), Vogel kan niet vliegen ('The Bird Can’t Fly', after her first feature film), Wachten op de moesson ('Waiting for the Monsoon') (foreign rights were sold before publication to Italia (Mondadori), Spain (MAEVA), Germany (Insel) and Canada (Anansi), Het laatste land ('The Last Land') in 2012 and Paradijsvogel in 2016.
In 2007 Threes Anna’s feature film debut, The Bird Can’t Fly is released on the international market, an English spoken full-length movie, that she wrote, directed and co-produced. The American actress Barbara Hershey has the leading role, the rest of the cast and crew is south-african. The movie had its première on the San Sebastian International Film Festival and won several prizes. In 2012 her second feature film is launched: Silent City (based on her novel De stille stad), playing in Japan. In 2014 her short film Platina Blues, 40 minutes in a one hand-held shot, on the composition of the same name by Dutch rock star Thé Lau, is launched.
Prizes
Threes Anna's film debut The Bird Can’t Fly won these prizes:
Filmprijs van de stad Utrecht for the best movie debut
the Stimulans voor Succes Prijs for the most successful films in artistic and commercial ways
the Jury's Special Award on the Sofia IFF
the best film and best director at the Zimbabwe IFF
the best film at the Internazionale del Film di Roma
the best script at the Madrid-Móstoles IFF.
Literature
Paradijsvogel (novel) 2016
Het laatste land (novel) 2012
Wachten op de moesson (novel) 2010
Vogel kan niet vliegen (novel) 2008
De stille stad (novel) 2006
Motormoeder (novel) 2005
De kus van de weduwe (novel) 2003
Film
Platina Blues 2014 (40 minutes one-shot film, made on the music and text of Thé Lau)
Silent City 2012 (feature film, international co-production The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium)
The Bird Can’t Fly 2007 (feature film, international co-production The Netherlands, South-Africa and Ireland)
Noordwesterwals 1996 (short film, co-directed by Boris Pavel Conen)
Documentary
Portret of Maarten 2003
De Wals 1996
Theatre in South Africa 1994
Theatre
1998 Hotazel - outdoor spectacle - tournee The Netherlands
1998 2ROOM2 - performance on location - Das Arts Amsterdam
1997 Stille Getuigen - performance on location - Diepenheim
1997 Adder Zonder Gras - performance on location - Groningen