Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Bumba flies through space with his circus friends in search of beautiful planets. He lands on new worlds and meets Arro, the little space man. Arro has a beautiful rocket. Bumba and Arro become close friends and have the craziest adventures together.

Lex is a wonderful dog.

Maarten reflects upon everything that has happened in 2012.

Prinsengracht is one of the main canals of Amsterdam. While on board of a ship, we'll get to see the city buildings, its bridges, and every day scenes: from people walking down the streets to carriages, other ships and so on. It's just a regular non fiction movie -hundreds alike were made showing beautiful (sometimes not so) exotic places-. But this one was particularly special to me, must have been its saddened atmosphere. Filmed by Emile Lauste (according to the information I've compiled), this man was sent over to the Netherlands by the Biograph Company to film some movies in this country (Lumière agents worked in a very similar way).

Everyday life for the residents of Biggeveen is somewhat different than we might imagine. From crashing helicopters, butchers who refuse to hand over their money when robbed, Santa Claus on cocaine, shooting piglets, fights in the snack bar, visits from outer space, hot chicks, canned soup, incoherent one-act plays, a clown sitting in the cinema, a nearsighted nuclear power plant maintenance worker named Infecto, and a washed-up artist selling his own CDs door to door, it's different from what we're used to. So if you ever decide to move, do us a favor... Never (I repeat) NEVER go live in Biggeveen!!!

The second solo performance by the Dutch comedian Freek de Jonge.

3Dimensies Live is a recording of concerts that took place in May 2011 in Gelredome. The concert display appears in 3D. This is the first time for Marco Borsato to do something that special and he was also the first Dutch artist.

In a recreated bedroom, Roaa, Zainab and Noe Noe, three refugee girls living in the Netherlands, draw and describe their self-invented fantasy monster, Cappi Don Liii. Reflecting on the monster and themselves, they talk about happy and less joyful memories, about growing up in an asylum seekers center – and the power of their friendship and fantasy.

What do you hear when you cannot see and do something ordinary like take the train to Rotterdam Centraal? The ticking of a white stick on the paving stones, the barking of a scary dog and the familiar station and train noises intensely pierce the viewer’s head. The filmmaker combines these everyday sounds with animations in braille.

Nijmegen, Holland, 2013. Joy has two lesbian mothers, Mo and Frei, and two gay fathers, Floor and Coen. She has a boyfriend of Nigerian origins, Timo, and a Portuguese girlfriend, Bibi. She is eighteen and she was born through an insemination passed in a jar of peanut butter. A documentary film about a girl coming from the future, shot with a mobile phone.

Short documentary about Yrrah, the ruthless illustrator who was always giggling. First of four in a series for the VPRO.

Four exciting episodes of Mega Mindy promise lots of viewing pleasure. - Vera Vries: Grandpa has bought a freezer from Vera Vries as a surprise for Grandma's birthday. - Black Gold: Jack and Peggy want to get rich. They drill into the oil pipeline that runs through the village. To do this, they have to dig in the middle of Grandma's candy store. But they didn't count on Mieke! - Pirate Treasure: Theo is a real pirate. He has a sword, binoculars, and even a parrot. - Marie Mariage: Commissioner Migrain wants to live alone. But his mother insists he get married first. Marie Mariage runs a marriage bureau in the village.

In a family where birthdays invariably end in arguments or tense silences, Crissi decides enough is enough. She approaches her birthday as a design experiment, transforming the familiar gathering into an absurdist stage to bring her family's ingrained patterns to the surface and, in doing so, start a new conversation.

An historic pageant was held in Helmond, Netherlands, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Workmen's Association St. Lambertus.

During the war between Abkhazia and Georgia in the early nineties, 87-year-old Toro fled to Georgia with his cousin and his cousin's wife. Since then they have been living together in a remote village. Despite Toro's endless positivity, humour and resilience, the harsh reality starts kicking in. Until the quiet comes is a story about dependency and the strength to carry on in times where everything seems to fall apart, told with a touch of tragedy, humour and vodka.

In this documentary the viewer meets eighteen-year-old Chamoetal Zeidler, who starts her two years of mandatory military service in the Spokesperson’s Unit of the Israeli Army (IDF). With an Israeli father and a Dutch mother, growing up in Israel and in the Netherlands, going to the army wasn’t the obvious choice for Chamoetal. In the course of the film we learn how Chamoetal experiences her time in the army and how she transforms from a teenager into a grown-up soldier, who must justify all IDF actions.

Uncle Henk Stubbe is a grumpy and antisocial man in his fifties who lives on welfare because he receives no money from his manager, Koos Korswagen. Uncle Henk is very hot-tempered and lashes out at the slightest provocation. He also frequently finds himself in precarious situations, sometimes without having asked for them, but usually because he makes no effort to avoid them. He almost always attempts to resolve these situations with violence. He also often thinks that he does everything right and that others do everything wrong, while he is actually the troublemaker.

Sarajevo Revisited is the story of three remarkable children who grew up during the war in Bosnia We first visited them in their then besieged hometown of Sarajevo in 1995. Three years of bitter war in the heart of Europe had left Bosnia utterly destroyed and as true in most wars, the children seemed to have suffered most. At age ten, Emir Spiritovic, Irena Dragoje and Naida Kuduz seemed to cope with the effects of the war in very different ways: sometimes defiant and angry, more often sad and deeply frightned. Eight years after the war Emir, Irena and Naida turn 18. At first sight they seem to be no different then kids of their ages in Berlin, Paris or Londen. They visit house parties, they skate, wear designer clothes and they chat with friends around the world on their computers. But under the surface war has left its traces. Sarajevo Revisited is the compelling story of a reunion with three war children who now embody the future of their country.

The shy Kyu, adopted from South Korea, travels with his Dutch father Lenny, a non-conformist disruptor, to Marseille during the World Cup football of 1998, where the Netherlands will play against South Korea.

A woman writes a letter and looks back on the most significant cigarettes in her life.

What do sourdough bread, old faded pictures and Donald Trump have in common? All three revive a feeling as old as the world, but still potent: nostalgia. Multifaceted, personal or collective, poetic or reactionary, nostalgia is a complex emotional state.

A chat with various people who identify as queer and feel connected to the LGBTQ+ community. Together, these personal interviews touch upon a bigger question: what exactly is queer happiness?

During a meditative dance session in the Dutch dunes an ill woman becomes completely absorbed in her own memories and reflects on her choice not to undergo any medical treatments. 'Engulf' is based on the true story of the director's late grandmother.

Almere is a rainbow city and actively implements rainbow policies. How does this city's policy contribute to the acceptance and well-being of its LGBTQ+ residents? Do older individuals experience it differently than younger ones? And what do other residents of Almere think? This is the central focus of the documentary 'Ally under the Rainbow'.

Bullying is a shockingly common phenomenon which begins in the schoolyard and goes viral on social media. Filmmaker Eef Hilgers lends a platform to a seldom-heard voice, as 13-year-old Rosalie paints a picture of persistent psychological torment, which ends up tainting even the former sanctuary of her own bedroom. By speaking up about it and trading stories with other victims over the internet, she slowly recovers her self-esteem.

During her first date with Bas, Bodine quickly hides her thick glasses. She better shouldn't have done that.

In sequence, we see an acrobat, a nurse, a German officer, and a majorette. They are alone in their own white room, and are wearing lots of makeup: black around their eyes and mouths, almost like a skull. They move tensely, and radiate a sense of desperation and fear, with many soundless screams. They are in a psychiatric hospital. The final shot consists of a pan along an empty, sterile corridor with empty white rooms, from which frightening sounds emanate.

What inspires Dutch people who go ice skating over one night? Radio and TV warn that the ice is dangerous, but the true skater can not be stopped. Virgin ice is irresistible.

A bus is under fire. Peer manages to escape as the only survivor. He desperately tries to get in touch with his younger sister on his mobile phone.

After her best friend Vicky suddenly ends their friendship, Sarah (27) becomes desperate to understand why. As she searches for answers, fragments of their life together reveal not only their closeness but also the growing suffocation that ultimately turns them into strangers.

Short film in which an innocent girl takes care of a seriously injured gangster.