WHO THE F*** IS C. BARTON?
Director: Katharina Walter
Production company: KAWA Productions
Genre: Documentary, portrait
Running time: 89 minutes
Language: Dutch and English
Year of Production: 2026
Country of origin: The Netherlands
For sixty years, C. Barton van Flymen photographed the world’s icons without ever turning the lens on himself. Now, in his eighties, he confronts the South African past he once fled for the very first time.
The ‘C.’ in his name stands for Clifford. That was his name when he was born in South Africa in 1944, where he grew up under apartheid. As a teenager, he fled alone to the Netherlands, changed his name and left his past behind. For decades, he remained silent about it. When he was asked to photograph Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, he turned down the assignment because he did not want to return.
Now in his eighties, Barton chooses to speak about his past for the first time. While he reflects on his life and work in the Netherlands, director Katharina Walter travels to Johannesburg. There, his sister Gillien and childhood friend Barry, the only people who still knew him as Clifford, share their memories. Together with Barton’s own words, their recollections tell the story of a boy who fled and a man who remained silent.
Gradually, a portrait emerges of a man who spent his life capturing others and is now finally stepping into the frame himself.
