Filmmaker wants to replace Zwarte Pieten in popular movie Bennie Stout using AI

The creators of the successful Dutch youth film Bennie Stout from 2010 want to use artificial intelligence to replace the Black Pete characters, a controversial Dutch holiday figure linked to the Sinterklaas tradition that uses blackface, with soot-smeared Pete characters. The film’s director, Johan Nijenhuis, confirmed a report written by the Nederlands Dagblad on Wednesday.

Nijenhuis and producer Klaas de Jong have been in contact with an American tech company who are looking into the possibilities of changing all Zwarte Piet characters to a new version of the Pete character, which has soot smeared on its face using AI.

The film was a box office hit in 2011. It is set in the 1930s and is about a boy who wants to move to Spain because his father lives there. The movie stars Hanne Verboom, Irene Moors, and Plien van Bennekom.

“The film is very timeless and still really enjoyable,” says Nijenhuis. “But right now, no streaming service wants to show the film because of the Black Pete characters.” The creators also considered reshooting all scenes with Pete characters, but according to Nijenhuis, that would be too expensive. Using AI to “recolor” the Pete characters would be faster and cheaper.

Zwarte Piet characters are an issue in several Dutch movies now that most of the country is moving away from the old character. Film producer Burny Bos decided that his smash hit Het Paard van Sinterklaas should no longer be shown because it features Zwarte Piet characters.