Under the name Hauser Orkater it was to play an important part in creating an unconventional kind of theatre. He joined the group, along with his brothers Mark and Vincent (now an award-winning composer of film music). When he moved to Amsterdam he came into contact with a music group who were developing a kind of total theatre. Perhaps inspired by his father, who was a stage manager, he made theatre his hobby.

After studying graphics and going to art school in Amsterdam he seemed destined to become a painter. But both sides in the debate were agreed on one point: Abel and The Northerners offered a unique view of what may be called the Dutch character.ДЄlex van Warmerdam was a complete novice when he became part of the film scene with his debut Abel. The slightly absurdist characters, the lengthy dialogues, the disconcerting camera work and lighting and the more than artificial design occasioned considerable confusion in a film culture in which realism, both in documentaries and features, had always played a major role. This question of its quality led to fierce debate in the Dutch film world: was it filmed theatre or pure cinema? A small output, as yet and it is for its quality rather than its quantity that we shall be considering it here. To date he has made only two features, Abel (1986) and The Northerners (De Noorderlingen, 1992). Coming from the world of the theatre, the young Alex van Warmerdam (1952-) occupies a special place in the still not fully developed field of the Dutch feature film.

De noorderlingen 1992