Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Unique footage of how the otter hunts its food, how they play, and even how a mother otter gives her cubs swimming lessons. Filmed in the beautiful natural environment of the wetlands in The Netherlands. With increasing population numbers amongst the otter, they look for new territory to expand. The Province works to protect them on a large scale, by for instance blocking roads with gauze, and creating fauna-tunnels. There's still a long way to go until a full recovery, but the otter is showing us the right track.

BRAINWASH tells the story of two men (the establishment) who control the lives and thoughts of a whole town.To their annoyance they discover a happy musician (representing the younger generation/or the hippie movement). He will have to be absorbed into society and brainwashed like the rest.

A documentary portrait about the Dutch small town Staphorst. Religious and conservative values regularly clash with the plans and intentions of secularly orientated local politicians and institutions.

A coming-of-age story follows the lives of three Palestinian boys from Hebron for five years. The question is how they stand in an environment where their freedom is constantly being curtailed by Israeli settlers and soldiers.

A stand-up comedy set by the Dutch comedian Howard Komproe, recorded live in Toomler in January 2010.

In the oldest city of the Middle East, a Kurdish student, a Muslim musician and a Christian little girl are part of a cultural mosaic. When vicious noises bring war upon their city, a mysterious sunfish appears to save them.

After traumatically killing his beloved wife, stylish young Nicolaas 'Nick' Driesen roughs it, squatting at night. He collects cash from his father and arranges false papers to emigrate to South America. Meanwhile he takes pity on grumpy, fat Makkus Van Berlere, who pretends being a former celebrated musical director until tremors wrecked his career. The lonely losers bond and keep evading two clumsy BOB agents (Belgian federal detectives), but can't escape Makkus's terminal cirrhosis.

Director Claire Pijman portrays her father Boy Pijman who was born in the Dutch East Indies. When his children ask, Boy Pijman tells his story that he had never spoken about before; his three years as a prisoner of war in Japanese Camp during the Second World War.

People in his village have made the gullible farmer Tinus de Schel believe that he has won the first prize in the lottery, ten thousand guilders. He goes to collect his money, but learns from the local police constable that it will be a couple of hours before the office opens. He falls asleep and dreams about how he will spend his prize, deciding first of all to make a gentleman of himself. He starts by visiting shops in Helmond (their names and what they sell are mentioned in rhyming couplets in the inter-titles), where he buys himself a new suit, a vacuum-cleaner, a radio, a Chevrolet, a bicycle, cigars, medicine, caramels and also gets his hair cut. When he wakes up and realizes that he has won nothing at all, he contents himself with the thought that if ever he does win the first prize in the lottery he will know in which Helmond shops he is going to spend the money.

Mr Van Peborgh, an "artiste photographe", remained alone with his three sons Henri, Frans and Louis after the death of his wife.The household is done by the maid Beth while the graceful girl Marie helps him in the store.The eldest son Henri is engaged to Hortense and thinks he's getting married soon.Louis wants to leave for America. The big engagement party on which the whole family is present starts without worry but ends up in a disaster because "It's cruel in the world".

NSB (Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging) film by Hamer - "Volksche Werkgemeenschap" (Folkish Study Group) with the Department of Public Information and Arts in 1941. Its subject is the archeological and anthropological origin of various Germanic symbols as well as their symbolic meanings. Topics discusssed include ancestral heritage, the solar wheel/sun cross, folk arts and crafts, the hakenkreuz, Germanic myth, runes such as the odal and hagal, the tree of life etc.

Documentary about the life of the five-time darts world champion, Raymond van Barneveld. After winning the world title for the fifth time in 2007, constant pressure and the desire for success prevailed.

Dance is by far the most important thing in 14-year-old Skip’s life. He’s got big ambitions, so whenever he gets the chance to take part in a dance competition with his all-boys group the Rhythm Rangers, he’s completely committed to the rehearsals at the local dance school.

A short war film

A portrait of the Netherlands on the basis of wedding speeches, party meetings, funerals, public manifestations, political rallies and protest marches. The documentary captures the spirit of the times and shows a country is divided into all sorts of clubs and subcultures. It is a country that, despite all its blessings, lives in fear and moral confusion. But what exactly are we afraid of? A kaleidoscope of scenes confronts the viewer, disconcertingly and sometimes touchingly, with this and other questions and moral issues.

On the day of his 18th birthday, Vincent leaves behind a dysfunctional family situation never to return. Seven years later, he is now a filmmaker, and decides to undertake a cathartic process to attempt to renew the strained links with his mother using his memories. In a cabin in the middle of the countryside, the director and his mother are filmed by a camera, sharing a moment, at once painful and intimate, with the person who is recording—and thus, later, with those who will watch. At the same time as the huis-clos conserved by this painstakingly composed device, the filmmaker discusses with his sister, trying with her to dissect the past and its traces, to resolve their differences with regard to this same ordeal.

Roel, a promising singer, faces a difficult choice after his father has been in an accident. Is the love for his father bigger than his love for music?

Frans Zwartjes' adaptation of Euripides' tragedy, originally produced for stage by the actresses Josée Ruiter and Çanci Geraerdts.

In September of 1899, the French cameraman Emile Lauste visited the Netherlands for the second time that year. [...] One of the subjects that Lauste briefly filmed was children on the island of Marken. We see the children passing by in a rowboat, and dancing in a circle. The traditional costumes and the watery environment looked very exotic to foreign audiences. The footage jibed very well with the perceptions that people had of the Netherlands in those days.

Cheeky youngster Dik Trom must outsmart the menacing local gang known as the Red Hand and the officious constable Flipsen. When a gang kidnaps a disabled friend and holds him in an abandoned house, Dik—never one to back down—leads a daring rescue mission with some unexpected help.

Brrr, but quickly draw a thick sweater. Bumba and his friends travel to the land of snow. There they will celebrate the birthday of Penguin Gwida. Do you want to also go along party? Quickly jump with your boyfriend Bumba on the sled!

Directed by Johan Gildemeijer.

The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The British soul singer Joss Stone made her North Sea Jazz festival debut at the age of 18; and in 2010 she returns with a new repertoire.

An animated choreography of clouds on contemporary classical music

When Omar sees how his sweet little brother hardens in the local football cage, it opens his eyes to the harsh group dynamics. Will he manage to get his brother out of the cage?

TV adaptation of the stage performance of the same name. In 254 entries Sadettin Kirmiziyüz navigates his life as a Turkish Dutchman in Zutphen.

When his world turns upside down, Jos, who lives with his wheelchair-bound mother, struggles to maintain his daily routine.

A Story of Unfolding Wings is a short abstract stop-motion film composed of colorful woven frames. By weaving the frames for the film on a handloom, Stellata Koppe created a sensitive travelogue about her transition, in which the violin sound of Eefje Habraken is indispensable. A document through which she wants to show how important transitioning can be for trans people.

This is a story about fighting physical, moral, and emotional oppression with boredom, cynicism, amorality, and faith. It illustrates the many faces of psychological and physical rebellion while drawing an intricate portrait of humanity against existential claustrophobia. Underlying themes include relationship dynamics, patriarchy, generational optimism, power versus perception, revolution, purity, and the manipulation of gender roles.

Inexplicably abandoned by his parents on an empty, windswept beach, a young man embarks on a surreal journey through time and contemplation of his very own mortality.

The semi-autobiographical account of a European plantation manager on Sumatra during Dutch colonial rule becomes a starting point for reflections on the structure of the plantation itself. An essay about local tobacco and rubber cultivation, the construction of skin colour as a social category and the "tropic fever” which rises slowly but inexorably, edited from archive material dating from 1890 to 1930.

At school, Rose is laughed at and ignored. Online, people pay to watch her. As a camgirl, she feels powerful, seen, and in control. But when her two lives start to overlap and her secret comes dangerously close to the surface, Rose is forced to ask herself: must you take your clothes off to truly be seen?

The world's most influential Dutch rave makes its legendary comeback. In the 1990s, Thunderdome initiated a total revolution in the nightlife and became the founder of the Netherlands largest cultural export product: dance music. Thunderdome returned in 2017 after five years of silence. Will Thunderdome manage to reinvent itself for a new generation of ravers. Go on a trip down memory lane and look forward to the future with the pioneers of the past and the new faces of today.

Club chUrch is a subculture within Amsterdam nightlife. This cruise club offering freedom, unprecedented sex and apparent absence of judgement has the film director constantly pushing his own personal boundaries, bringing out a side of him he didn’t know existed. Is it healthy and can he deal with the freedom? In this personal documentary the maker explores what Club chUrch means to him, while his late great–uncle, who was also gay, seems to watch over his every move. Robin Vogel bares all in a film about sexual identity, non–monogamy and bridging different worlds.