Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Sandra is a sick kid, her parents are looking for the expensive medicine.

In 1928 in the northern part of the Netherlands, a man has an affair with the wife of one of his friends (who is in jail at the time). Because she abandons her children to move in with him, the police are sent to arrest her. This leads to a dramatic confrontation.

Tragic love story about the photographer and explorer Felice Beato who travelled back to Japan in 1895 to seek his former wife O-Kiku. On the way he describes in a nostalgic letter to his brother how much he yearns for his lost love O-Kiku and how impotent he feels in an ancient Japan subject to rapid change. The journey takes him to Nagasaki and Moji, Onomichi, Mount Fuji, Yokohama and Tokyo. Places he once visited with his beloved and where he now no longer understands the people. Felice...Felice... is inspired by hand-coloured nineteenth century photos taken by e.g. Felice Beato, Sjimooka Renjo and Baron von Stilfried. In this film, shot entirely in a studio, the photos depict Felice's journey. Awarded the Golden Calf for Best Feature film in 1998. (NFF)

Four teenagers decide to spend their summer holiday on a camping at the beach. Officially to disseminate ashes of a grandfather, but foremost to finally get laid.

A chance meeting between Nicolai and Nina, a friend from the past, makes Nicolai return to an abandoned hotel in which, many years ago, he experienced his only love, full of tragedy and an overwhelming feeling.

It's war. War against an invisible enemy that is not as deadly as we are told. The world is changing rapidly. Disproportionate measures are taken worldwide that disrupt society as a whole. A dichotomy in society forced vaccinations and restrictions on freedom. Have we had the worst? Or is there something more disturbing to awaiting us.

The glorious and tragic story of American athlete and actor Johnny Weissmuller (1904-84), Olympic swimmer, water polo player and the only true Tarzan, an archetypal character and myth of cinema, that of the original Hollywood blockbusters (1932-48).

Indy's (Bibi) slimy adventure continues as a mysterious slime stone with magical powers suddenly appears from outer space. When the evil Xenia Kobalt takes hold of the stone the entire world bursts into a fight. Indy, the happy alien Klatu and slime friends both new and old have to go to the impossible to stop Xenia.

Hiernamaals tells the story of Sam, a hyperintelligent and hardworking 14-year-old girl who leads a happy life with her father and her two brothers in the south of the Netherlands. She is a good student, very strict with herself and she is always on time. She also takes care of her two younger brothers; since her mother Vera died, she’s felt responsible for the family and now she takes care of the household with her father. One morning — rushing to school to help her math teacher print exams — she is struck by a large truck and she dies. In the hereafter she finds her mother waiting for her. It's a strange feeling of both happiness and sadness. She discovers that there is a way back to life, but will she succeed in taking her mother with her?

A popular prime minister candidate and a well-known thriller book writer face each other in court after she accuses him of sexual abuse just before the election.

The princess has been kidnapped by the gang of a witch named Pad Pong, and a purple guy named Purno needs to save her. The princess's beauty has also been taken away by Pad Pong. Will Purno find her beauty back?

The story of a free-spirited girl who was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the 1920s, even the somewhat more tolerant people of the Netherlands (relative to the rest of Europe) did not easily suffer the open flouting of the rules of society. Cheerful and optimistic, Angela (Barbara Hershey) defied the conventions of her conservative Dutch family by traipsing about the countryside with her lover, living on what turned up each day. However, even for the sunniest of optimists such an idyll can have tragic consequences.

Four women are sick of being poor. They decide to rob a bank. They are surprised how easily they get away with it and start to commit more robberies. When the net finally closes around them they decide to make one last big hit.

Young Peter has a difficult time adjusting at school having been confined to a wheelchair after an accident. He still wants to participate in the school outing and play and wants to come up with a way to make the play actors 'fly' like fairies. By chance the local inventor Quirinus Drijfhout and his son Felix have just perfected their 'Zerostraler', a machine that can make any object float in mid air.

Sinterklaas wants to be absolutely sure that all the presents will be delivered on time. To make that happen, he has come up with a clever plan: a secret gift storage facility in the Netherlands! Months before the official arrival, he secretly goes to check how things are going. But when he arrives, he gets the shock of his life: there are no presents at all! The Piets have received false instructions, and the arrival ceremony has been mysteriously canceled. Someone is pretending to be Sinterklaas — but who…?

Due to the measures taken by the government, students have fewer and fewer prospects for a meaningful future. Life is on pause and society is kept in fear. The confidence in a bright future is gone. Even after 18 months, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The many promises have not yet changed this situation. In this moving documentary, young people give an idea of the impact of the measures on their lives. Is there still hope or has the damage already been done?

As an older Captain Hook reflects on his time in Neverland, it becomes clear that not all is made of faith, trust and pixie dust.

When the Polish au pair Karina goes grocery shopping with the family's children, she notices that the mother does not trust her with her PIN code. A small rift appears in the bond of trust between Karina and the family, with all its consequences.

Two men in a village are beaten up by a group of young­sters. A female detec­tive tries to find out why the two do not want to report the assault.

Damon Gameau takes eight kids on the ultimate school excursion: a road trip across Europe to seek solutions to the climate crisis.

What would be the shortest route between Entre Rios in Argentina and the Chinese metropolis Shanghai? Simply a straight line through the center of the earth, since the two places are antipodes: they are located diametrically opposite to each other on the earth's surface. During his visits to four such antipodal pairs, the award-winning documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky captured images that turn our view of the world upside down.

12-year-old Jackie has made Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, where her mom works, her second home. While wandering around after hours, Oopjen from Rembrandt's famous painting suddenly comes to life. It seems she is looking for her long lost sister. Jackie is used to solving other people's problems and decides to take Oopjen home, so they can go look for her sister. For the woman from the Golden Age, this modern world, its customs and appliances are a great adventure. And Jackie, who doesn't really have any friends at school, finally gains a true BFF.

A widower invites his children for a family weekend with the announcement that he has news. He is getting married with a 30 years younger woman. The children start the competition for heritage. What is more important: money or family?

Ze, a 17-year-old, studies hard at school to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia. When Ze encounters Maralaa, his senses are awakened and another reality seems possible.

Mother is dying and invites her family to spend a few days in a chalet in Austria. In the isolation of the snow-covered mountains, old wounds are reopened and the family ties crumble steadily through quarrels and irritations.

Isabel feels strangely drawn to Dr. Palanca, the president of the country club where she works. However, after piecing together a violent picture of what lies beneath the club’s pristine surface, she realizes that what began as an innocent infatuation is actually rooted in a sinister shared history.

A scientist makes a discovery that allows him to send emails back in time, but meddling with his past may not give him the future he wants.

Paul has a full-time lover, an older English woman whose common sense and down-to-earth qualities more than compensate for her relative lack of passion. After all, he is surrounded by women clamoring for time with him in bed. So are all the other men in the story. When one of his sons dies suddenly during an operation, Paul is devastated and cannot make out what has gone wrong in his life. None of his current crop of friends has any insight to offer. Some of these questions become clearer when his sister, with whom he is almost unnaturally close, comes to visit.

Destressing? Do that at home, will you! In 'Adéhadé', everything goes in overdrive, with many Dutch celebrity impressions.

Jaap Peter, a lively 16 year old boy, eagerly prepares for his older sister's wedding at their beloved grandfather's country house. As the whole family rallies together to create the perfect celebration, Jaap Peter falls in love for the first time. But when the girl of his dreams is smitten with his younger sister instead, Jaap Peter is disheartened. Through the chaos and tender moments, Jaap Peter learns that his presence and the unbreakable bond of his family are vital in ensuring the wedding's success.

A girl living alone in a post apocalyptic wasteland finds herself hunted down by marauders who want her to fight in their fighting pit for their entertainment.

The red-haired Loulou, who suddenly appears in Guy and Alfred's car, doesn't exactly bring them luck. The heavily armed and rather tough dropout from the terrorist scene not only sets her ex-comrades on them, but also a vengeful cop. The two guys don't have time for cat-and-mouse games. They are traveling from Amsterdam to Barcelona on behalf of a drug ring with several bags full of ecstasy, while Alfred's wife Anna is being held hostage in Holland to secure the dealers. If the two don't answer a call at a set time every few hours in a specific phone booth, Anna will not fare well. Then Loulou literally falls from the sky and throws all their plans into disarray. And time is running out...

Angel is a shy, clumsy girl who can't say no to anything. When she finds a beautiful special watch, which can make all her wishes come true, she suddenly is incredibly popular but will her new life truly make her happy?

When Pia plays a mysterious vinyl record single, she suddenly knows how to travel through her own life.

A very funny modern version of Snow White. In the world of plastic surgery, stepmother tries to stay the most beautiful of the world. Snow White goes on the run when her stepmother sends her to a plastic surgeon with a drinking problem to ruin her daughter's face. That brings her to a cottage in the woods where seven little gay men live. In the meantime her stepmother seeks for a way to hunt down Snow White.

One summer day in 1845, Henry David Thoreau went into the forest, and built a small house to live for a while. In this cabin, he placed three chairs: one chair for solitude, one chair for friendship, and one chair for society. Now, 180 years later, we enter his home to stay for a while and build a shadow-forest to place three tables. Thoreau left behind his writings and drawings, observing carefully the life of diverse animals and plants in the woods. The traces he left are reimagined as a performance interwoven with various other stories and shifting shadows between light and darkness. “We may no longer know how to make fire, how to pray, or where the forest to pray in is”, but on the ruins already burned, we begin to rebuild a landscape of "a home as forest" and "a forest as home."

While prepping for a party, the balding student Mischa is struggling to get it in the right model. Just as he decides to say goodbye to his receding hairline, he comes to a strange discovery. Between his flaxy hair there’s a foul mouthed ‘Hair mouth’ who forces him to keep the few hairs he has which leads to a bloody battle.

Determined to live the high life and make their mark, a trio of audacious teenagers sets out on a riotous quest across Amsterdam to get into the city's most exclusive nightclub.

Three members of an extended Afghan family start their lives over in Iran as refugees, unaware they face a decades-long struggle ahead to be "at home".

The teenagers Vigo and Luna were friends, but haven't spoken to each other in ten years. Now they meet again; their lives very different. When Vigo shows Luna his life, they grow closer. Until Vigo confesses something.

A behind the scenes look at the production of Martin Koolhoven's film, Oorlogswinter.

A young Dutch couple gets new English neighbors next-door to their modern home. Of course, everyone is not who they seem.

Well-known novelist and literary monument, 55-year-old Jan Meerman's successful life is thrown upside down when his 85-year-old mother, Josée Verbeke, unexpectedly has a severe stroke. Jan no longer recognizes his once lively mother as her verbal witticisms have been replaced by pitiful cries and gibberish. In these difficult times Jan faces the upcoming deadline of his new novel. The confrontation he has to engage with the decline of his mother makes him question his priorities.

Two women hide a dead man in an autumnal forest. He wakes up again the next day. In a flashback it becomes clear what happened and why. Now that everything is different, the man struggles with his karma and the hereafter.

A look at the lives of three generations of women. Monique and her daughter Sylvie run a brothel on the border of West Flanders and France. Eline, Sylvie's six-year-old daughter, is fascinated by the mysterious workplace of her mother and grandmother, but she is never allowed inside. A dramatic event turns their lives upside down and the family ties are put under pressure.

Best friends Amin and Mitchell work as street coaches in the lively neighbourhood of Schijndrecht. Not exactly a flashy job, but that changes when residents suddenly turn into creepy, slimy creatures. Together with a motley crew of local residents, the duo gets the ultimate chance to prove themselves.

A Dutch pilot with a real passion for flying risks everything to keep his plane in the air.

A few years have passed, and after a painful breakup, Iris's life is finally back to normal! She's pregnant by her true love, Reza, and her son adores him. When he even gets down on one knee after the birth, everything is one big, sugary-sweet pink cloud. Or... is it? A blended family, your ex's girlfriend interfering in everything, a strained relationship with your mother: in reality, it all brings a lot of hassle and a lot of irritation. If Iris goes completely off the rails, she unintentionally jeopardizes her dream wedding, but luckily, there are always her friends.

Dummie realizes that he is not as famous as his father, an ancient pharaoh, so he decides to rely more on himself and enters a special contest with the help of his best friend.

The characters from Leedvermaak have fared twelve years later. Lea's first husband, Alexander, makes a sequel to the wedding film and shows us the familiar characters and how they have fared. Dory, Nico's first wife, is pregnant. The father of the child is Simon, Lea's father. Nico has fallen into crisis and decides to resign as hospital director. He retreats to the farm where he hid during the war. Hans, Nico's best friend, is married to Pien. After fathering seven children, he flees this marriage. Nico's father, Zwart, increasingly isolates himself from the world; he reads and rereads the camp letters from his first wife.

In Metamorphosis, filmmaker and media artist Pim Zwier chooses a highly original form to depict the life and work of the German artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), whose study of insects laid the foundations of entomology. Her most important work revolved around the metamorphosis of caterpillars into butterflies: she recorded the process in beautiful prints and engravings and was the first to draw the insects in combination with the plant on which they live.

After bouncing back from leukemia, 10-year-old Mike is ready to leave the hospital, but his mother never arrives to take him home.

Placide's dad tells him on his deathbed he'll haunt Placide if he doesn't find a wife soon. Placide cautiously agrees, but he only wants to settle for a very beautiful woman. That might be easier said than done, since he is a vagabond. When he accidentally enters a photo shoot, Placide meets Sarah. He falls in love, but she is way out of his reach.

In Man Made, Sunny tries to find out what society's ideas regarding masculinity entails. Does testosteron define your masculinity? Can men be victims? And do men suffer under these ideas? In the twentieth century, feminists have fought for the freedom of women and subsequently their emancipation. Is now the time for the emancipation of men, are they next to be set free?

Axel is Dutch Surinamese, but after 20 years of living in the Netherlands he has become 100% Dutch. He has married a Dutch girl, Victoria, and has never been back. When his free-spirited mother Gladys summons the family to her guesthouse in Surinam for Christmas and an important announcement, Axel, his wife and her sister Mirna reluctantly make the journey. They have barely arrived when the situation gets completely out of hand, with his brother Virgil winding him up and his daughter Wonnie, who is doing an internship in Paramaribo, admitting that she is pregnant...

The documentary focuses on the struggles of those who survived the long siege by German forces during World War II (from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944). The three million inhabitants of Leningrad (now renamed St Petersburg) suffered extremes of starvation and deprivation.

Rik and his dad Paul are bullied by the kids in their neighbourhood. Rik wishes his dad would be tougher. Inspired by a mafia movie he saw on TV, Rik fantasizes about being the son of a mafia boss. Everybody would show him respect. So when his dad is promoted and they move to a new town, Rik decides to tell everybody his dad really is a Mafia boss - but what happens when his lies turn against him?

A biography of Darryl F. Zanuck, mogul and the power behind 20th Century Fox throughout the Golden Age.

Years ago, Lepel's parents left an hot air balloon world tour. He stays with granny Koppenol, who constantly exploits him for domestic chores, in her buttons shop and even as accomplice in the department store where she steals the buttons from clothes. After she won't even leave him the balloon kind salesman Max gave him, Lepel, now 9, runs away. He meets Max's slightly older daughter Pleun. Schoolmaster Bijts is also looking for him, but only as arithmetics talent for an academic schools contest. Max accidentally finds out the sad truth about Lepel's family.