Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Unprecedented Longing is an honest coming of age film about two boys searching for their identity and love, in which making music plays a central role. An ode to nonverbal communication and unspoken longing and affection.

Right-wing populism is spreading through Western Europe like wildfire. It is most popular in quiet, white neighbourhoods where people are shielded from different cultures and lifestyles. In this unscripted documentary, Sam Peeters portrays an ironic caricature of life in the Flemish suburbs, which reflects the current European zeitgeist.

An animation created in response to Marc Mulders' artwork Grond In Christus II (Grounded in Christ II). The painting itself was created as a critique of the current Church and its failure to alleviate suffering, given that it no longer concerns itself with helping the poor. This animation brings suffering back to the creator. Created by an atheist for Christians.

The Pirate's Treasure is a 1968 feature film based on the character Jommeke by Jef Nys. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name, De schat van de zeerover (The Pirate's Treasure). It is Filiberke's birthday and Jommeke wants to surprise him with a cool gift. But there is a big problem. Jommeke's piggy bank is empty. While searching for a gift, Jommeke finds an old toy boat for his best friend in a trash can. However, they discover something mysterious in the boat: an old map with clues to a great treasure! Will Jommeke and his friend Filiberke unravel the secret?

An environmental inspector gets stranded in a forgotten town dominated by monstrous cars. His short stay in a motel doesn't give him a moment's rest. He discovers that cars evolve into parasitic life forms, entrancing mankind and extracting vital juices from the earth.

A boy tries invain to get aboard a fishing boat. Gazing over the water he imagines a life aboard.

Lispelgeheim is a film made entirely by children. It is about four children who must find four shells spanning three eras. They do not know why they must find the shells. But later they discover that they can return the daughter of a magician, but they can also choose world power! World power?! That will attract criminals! Will everything turn out well? Will they return the magician's daughter?

A short animation in which characters from 39 paintings in the Frans Hals Museum move from one artwork to the next.

Bassie & Adriaan are in Denmark. There they will receive the package from the hands of a children's friend, but who is that? When Bassie sees a Viking ship during his search through Denmark, he thinks he is dreaming. But when he suddenly sees B100, he knows he is wide awake. After Denmark, Bassie & Adriaan go to Belgium. On their way there, they are having a great time. They are traveling in a hot air balloon. From the balloon, they look out over beautiful Belgian towns and villages. But they don't see that B100 is preparing an ambush under the balloon...

Short documentary about the visual artist Shinkichi Tajiri (1923-2009). Second of four in a series for the VPRO.

Rare fictional short, written by Remco Campert, in the veins of existentialism. About a young man who is in love with the girlfriend of his best pal.

Beautiful Amsterdam is a short promotional film from 1927 made by Alex Benno. In addition to the usual tourist images, this film (with English intertitles) also features many shots of the Amstel Hotel, which had commissioned the film. The Amstel Hotel was most likely trying to convince American tourists to book rooms at the hotel when they visited the Olympic Games, which in 1928 were held in Amsterdam.

ANA ANA is a cinematic poem about four young creative Egyptian women. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors in a process of collaboration and mentorship over a course of two years. The four main characters find creative ways to express what is hidden within their hearts: speaking of their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, and using metaphors, and cinematic storytelling to transform the every-day struggles of their lives into the sublime. Set in the overwhelming chaos of Cairo, the film also oscillates back and forth between an empty and abstract desert, which might be real or unreal.

Two resourceful, do-it-yourself neighbors tackle every home disaster with unstoppable optimism - turning a broken stove into an open hearth and making buffing the wooden floor into a friendly competition. Their can-do spirit and inventive fixes make them the ultimate problem-solvers in this beloved Czech puppet series.

An animated short that paints an eerie portrait of a lone miner trapped underground after a grisou (gas) explosion. The film unfolds through stark, woodcut-style imagery and a meticulous soundscape—boots echo, water drips, insects clatter.

Filmed live on the Nile Stage at Rotterdam’s legendary Ahoy arena on 10 July 2009, this recording documents Duffy during the height of the "Rockferry" phenomenon. Fresh from winning a Grammy and three BRIT Awards, the singer delivers a defining set of soul, blending 1960s nostalgia with modern pop sensibilities, and culminating in her 2008 chart-topper 'Mercy'. For over 15 years, this footage remained in the Dutch public broadcast vaults. Released in 2025, it serves as a poignant time capsule of a rising star who would shortly retreat from the public eye.

A documentary about the reconstruction of the Sonneveld family villa in Rotterdam.

The rough voices of men (from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Accatone ) open the film soundtrack, they banter in Italian about taking flowers to the cemetery. Filmed in Granada and Seville during Holy Week. The soundtrack mixes a cacophony of the music of the marching bands recorded live on location, the ambience of the crowds and the sung laments. The centre piece is The Silence, a totemic hyper realist effigy from the 17th century which processes at midnight in total silence along the streets where the lighting has been turned off. After it passes, we cross over into the light and noise of a new day – where people throng the streets, sit in cafes and enjoy life. Popular devotion is expressed in death intertwined with the applause for life in the energy of the Baroque.

Silent Dutch animated advertisement for Kroon bicycles. A hand draws a cat cycling to the moon. On the way, it is bothered by falling meteorites and other inconveniences. However, as soon as it sits down on a Kroon bicycle, it is completely unaffected by stones. Without effort, it cycles to the moon.

A Parked Life is an intimate portrait of Petar Bonchev, one of the hundreds of thousands of Eastern European truck drivers who work in the west.

15 attempts to make a film, to misunderstand an artist or to look at the world without preconceptions.

In a bad dream, a man finds himself on a pirate ship where the barber gives the crew a rather violent shave. Philips Philishave commercial by Dutch puppet animator Joop Geesink.

Which includes the parody of the seventies craze of the sensitivity training, the simplistiese on culture, the stencil war, the slide with the clowns. And of course many other highlights from the first carpet-beater-years. Additional seen on this DVD: the four cinema advertising films that Lord Koot and Lord Bie made to promote the Postgiro. (The material on part 10 was aired between 1974 and 1976 by the VPRO television.)

Three boys are extremely bored on the last day of summer vacation, until one of them decides to steal a car.

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

A feeder is getting bored with his current project.

The film consists of 43 scenes which are fragments and do not tell a story but may be compared to musical intermezzi - they give the impression that they have been slotted in between other scenes, but the nature of these other scenes is not made clear. (Wim Schlebaum)

Documentary about Israel, with the theme: Why all this hatred towards Israel? First, a historical section, followed by the theological aspect.

Maya, a woman in her 30s, is trapped in an abusive marriage with Aron, a controlling and violent man. One terrifying night, after a brutal confrontation, she locks herself in the bathroom, desperate to escape his rage. Haunted by memories of their once-loving relationship, Maya is trapped between fear and the hope of freedom. A call to her friend Anna sparks a flicker of courage, but Aron’s manipulative and volatile behaviour pushes her to the edge.

Filmmaker Art van 't Rood grapples with self esteem and confidence. He invites friends and family to find out how a feeling of self worth is created.

The documentary embarks on a fascinating journey of discovery through the Alblasserwaard, revealing the wild side of this classic and idyllic Dutch landscape as the seasons change, as well as the astonishing number of animal species that have benefited from the legacy of windmills.

One of a series of humorous claymation films about an alternative distribution of household responsibilities between men and women.

Despite the doctor's declaration of complete health, Hamara can't shake the feeling of impending doom. An abandoned cave she encounters during a walk has a strong pull. Why?

A short documentary film made up of archival footage shot in 2003, which was reworked and edited in 2018-2019. The film shows a haphazardly shot, fragmented property viewing and inventarisation through the eyes of a child, featuring a voice over by that same child. Because of having unrestricted access to their family’s camcorder as a child, there were a few instances where the artist's child form had shot ‘full length’ documentary films - with this documentary short being one of those instances. Often these documentations were a call for seeking comfort in a new surrounding, stemming from a deep fear of being forgotten or unheard, and a playful way of documenting one’s thoughts and feelings. In many ways the artist, Mees Joachim, was the original vlogger, before the advent of Youtube.

Where Comes Mulan follows artist and filmmaker Tianyi Zheng as she returns to her ancestral village in Huangpi, Wuhan, where the legendary figure of Mulan is said to have originated. Beginning with intimate conversations with relatives and local residents, the film traces how Mulan has been remembered or forgotten in everyday life, only to collide with how local authorities have transformed her image into a powerful tourism brand. Through walks across tourist sites and abandoned ruins, Zheng questions the gap between lived memory and official narrative.

On the sidelines of history, some characters, often ignored of the greater public have, in the shadows, had a decisive weight on the most important events of our century. We are presenting you there «unknows». A two-part documentary, which is a two-and-a-half-hour interview with Léon Degrelle himself, was produced for FR3 in 1978 by Jean-Michel Charlier, as part of the series "LES DOSSIERS NOIRS" (The Obscure Records).The first part, "LÉON DEGRELLE: CHEF DE 'REX'" and the second part, "LE 'VOLKSFÜHRER' LÉON DEGRELLE".

When three teenagers suddenly lose all connection to the outside world, what begins as an ordinary glitch turns into something far more unsettling...

A vacated, cluttered bedroom fills slowly with water. The bed is already under water and, due to the motion of the waves, seems to breathe gently. A strange kind of calm exists, as if it is all a dream. Minne Kersten (1993) filmed her video work in a replica bedroom at an institute that researches water as part of flood preparedness. The flooded room elicits visions of disasters and water's destructive power. It is a distressing image in light of current climate developments, especially in a city such as Amsterdam, which lies below sea level. Kersten is fascinated by the feelings of serenity and calm that can arise in the midst of a crisis. In moments of actual need and loss, a person may experience a heightened sense of clarity. They may take a step back and observe as time passes by. This can allow space to think about the end as a transitional state, rather than something definitive. Transcend the future!

A look at the traditions of the oldest club in the Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam.

A three-panel video installation commissioned by the Rijksmuseum for the exhibition Monomania, curated by Fiona Tan.

A lone figure wanders through an alien landscape. The sound and image are blown-out, creating a textural grain inherent to MiniDV which mimics the sand blowing in the wind.

Chris Petit's experimental take on "Dracula".