Draft:Marc Overzee

Frans J. Afman (December 11, 1933 - May 4, 2011) was a Dutch banker and later active as a film financier.

Afman became well-known in the second half of the 1980s for his pioneering work in realizing film projects. Initially at Slavenburg Bank and then at the Rotterdam branch of the French Credit Lyonnais Bank.

Afman studied law at the University of Amsterdam. In 1967, he started working for Slavenburg Bank in Rotterdam, where he became the director of the International Banking Division in 1972. During this time, he initiated and developed the Entertainment Business Division of Slavenburg Bank. In 1983, Slavenburg was acquired by the French bank Credit Lyonnais. Here, Frans Afman became Assistant General Manager and head of the Entertainment Business Division, a position he held until 1988, after which he remained active as a consultant for three more years. On September 1, 1991, Frans Afman became Managing Director of the newly formed Financial Services division of International Creative Management in Los Angeles. He worked here as an independent financial consultant until April 1993.

Afman played a significant role in financing famous films such as "Three Days of the Condor", "King Kong", "Superman II and III", "Terminator I and II", "Rambo II and III", "Platoon", "The Name of the Rose", "A Room with a View", "When Harry Met Sally", "Total Recall", and "Dances With Wolves".

In 1996, Afman was elected chairman of the Dutch Film Festival. He was most visible in the Netherlands between 1996 and 2007 as the chairman of the board of the Dutch Film Festival. Upon his departure in 2007 as chairman of the board of the Dutch Film Festival, Afman was knighted in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his services to Dutch cinema. In his later years, Afman was an honorary member of the Friends of the Dutch Film Festival Association and a member of the supervisory boards of the Film by the Sea festival and the CineMec Ede multiplex cinema.