Discoveries from Netherlands Antilles World Cinema

Xatar’s way from the ghetto to the top of the charts is as dramatic as it is daring. From the hell of an Iraqi jail, Giwar Hajabi emigrated to Germany as a young boy with his family in the mid-1980s and has to start right at the bottom. There are opportunities, but far more obstacles. Giwar’s rise from petty criminal to major dealer is swift. Until one shipment goes missing. In order to clear his debts with the cartel, he plans a legendary gold heist. But just as everything goes wrong, another door opens for Giwar thanks to his passion for music …

Three musicians form a band. But they're not just any musicians: each has a disability that makes them particularly unsuitable for their instrument. The guitarist is deaf, the singer is tone deaf, and the bassist has a stiff arm. They lack a drummer, and to respect the group's uniqueness, they turn to a famous writer who has never played the drums. He accepts, but begins a manipulation that will wreak further havoc on the already largely dysfunctional band.

Headstrong girl Kenza lives with her father Ouira and grandfather Weljo on a car wrecking yard in the countryside of Curaçao. The two men are opposites that don't particularly attract: Ouira is a determined and rational police officer, while Weljo identifies with the original inhabitants and spirituality of the island. As Weljo wishes to prepare his passing to the world of spirits, the relationship between Ouira en Weljo starts to escalate and the eleven-year-old Kenza searches for her own path in-between the two extremes. The down-to-earth and avoidant mentality of Ouira no longer offers her all that she needs and slowly she opens up to the more mystical and comforting traditions of her grandfather.

Tula, a slave on the island of Curacao, is becoming more and more aware of the injustice existing between his people and the white oppressors. His peaceful resistance inspires his people to unite in a passionate struggle for equality, freedom and brotherhood.

In El Idilio, a village on the banks of a river in the Amazon rainforest, Antonio Bolívar, known to everyone as "The Old Man," lives a recluse. One day, Antonio begins reading the romance novels that the traveling dentist Rubicondo Loachamin brings him to pass the time. He shares this occupation with a beautiful local girl, a waitress and prostitute, named Josefina, with whom he ends up falling in love. But all does not go smoothly when Antonio is forced to go on a hunting trip.

A documentary exploring the multiple facets of sexuality, the film took over five years of preparation and two years' filming. From the United States to Japan, via Brazil, Raphaël Sibilla delves into the world of the staging and fulfilment of fantasies, from the most straightforward – swinging soirées and SM bars – to the most extreme, fetishism and scarification. Although the notion of sexual pleasure is always present, the filmmaker gradually enlarges upon his subject and moves away from the simple, raw representation of sexual practices. He raises more general issues, without ever being judgemental, about his interviewees’ relationship to their bodies, seeking to understand the secret motivations and aspirations of men and women who are sometimes ready to go as far as mutilation to experience more intense pleasure.

During a protracted drought, Solem (Marian Rolle) uses her magical powers to protect her village from evil spirits. She also provides food, searching the wilderness for edible plants. During one foraging mission, she encounters an evil spirit who impregnates her. Solem's fellow villagers believe her power to be derived from her virginity, and when she gives birth they ostracize her. She then embarks on a quest to purify herself and restore balance to the world.

Fisherman Rowin hardly catches enough fish to make ends meet. But when he meets a mysterious man at his regular fishing spot, his life seems to take a radical turn.

Curacao reveals the collectively repressed legacy of the Dutch on their former colony and offers a disturbing look into the influence this has on the contemporary Curacao community.

Two brothers and a cousin journey from humble fishing families on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire to become three of the best freestyle windsurfers in history.

Superb documentary about composer and pianist Wim Statius Muller, a man who puts the human in humanism. The film follows Mr. Muller's life and careers (in both music and the intelligence services) from youth to the present, with many insightful interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, and with much attention given to his 'Antillean Dances' for piano. These Antillean Dances are delightful piano works that evoke the spirit of the composer's native Curaçao, and they instantly charm any listener who has at least a shred of human feeling.

A young woman leaves her abusive husband in Holland to seek refuge in St. Maarten. But the law has changed since the island obtained country status and she is stranded at the airport. The Chief Immigration Officer is a man of integrity and exemplary service, who is torn between enforcing the new law and instinctively helping a woman he doesn’t know and whom he meets on the anniversary of his wife’s death.

Johnny Richards is a prisoner who is about to get an early release due to political changes in St.Maarten. Richards was serving time for the accidental murder of a father and son. The widow of the victim Maria, learns of his potential pardon and goes to extreme measures to stop the release from taking place.

An interesting and emotional documentary that tells the story of the last voyage of the ship 'Isidel I' that left Curaçao heading for Bonaire but never arrived. A mystery to this day.

10-year-old Luna finds a dog, but her grandmother doesn't let her keep it, so she decides to take matters into her own hands, together with her cousin Sol. She skips school and sets out to house the dog in the small slave huts on the other end of the island, but things don't go as planned and they don't make it home before nightfall.

Mike and Victoria, imprisoned by haunting memories, must fight to save their broken family. Can they conquer their demons and mend their bond in time, or will a tragic twist doom what is most precious to them?

Documentary about the publisher 'In de Knipscheer,' and their pioneering work of publishing activist and critical literature from the Netherlands and the Caribbean. Several authors discuss the impact of the publisher as the owner Franc Knipscheer is about to retire.

Spit is a 20 year old father and struggling rapper. Against the pleading of Vanessa not to, Spit is tempted into a job with gangster Dollaz (Lindy Elmo Gibbs) which will guarantee Spit a share of money. But the job goes horribly wrong. With the police tracking Spit down, he makes a fatal mistake.

Buchi Fil was a proud slave who fought a fierce battle for his rights, earning him the wrath of the slave owner and his guards. Buchi Fil turned out to have one weak spot: his love for the beautiful slave girl Mosa Nena.

At the small Caribbean Island of St. Martin/Sint Maarten, there's one of the World's most unique airports: Princess Juliana International, known in aviation circles as SXM.

Eighteen-year-old guitarist Fito dreams of a music career abroad but struggles to let go of his past love, Sunny. Seeing her with someone new, he makes a radical decision.

A feeder is getting bored with his current project.