Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Tensions run high between a dentist couple in this romantic comedy, winner of the 48 Hour Film Project Rotterdam Audience Award.

Whirling through the solar system is a physics-defying planet named Insomnia where time stands still. When an elderly artist is diagnosed with incurable cancer, his doctor suggests a visit to this celestial body as a way of stemming the progression of the disease. With the help of his filmmaker daughter, the artist prepares for a momentous interplanetary journey.

Becoming the best version of yourself, the goal everyone consciously or unconsciously strives for. Everything can always be better, more beautiful, bigger, faster. Nowadays silence is the only time we can relax, but the world we live in is actually never quiet. There are noises everywhere and excitement everywhere. What can we learn from silence? In this film, a group of young adults spend a weekend together in silence at a Zen Buddhist monastery. They drink tea, clean, walk around and meditate together. The birds whistle just a little louder, the cutlery and plates sound like a radio play while eating, and in the wind you can find different kinds of noise. As time passes, you sink, along with them, deeper and deeper into that clear silence. 'You Are Already Here' takes you into a meditative experience in which you can ask yourself where you are going, and more importantly, where you are now.

A young man in a tram is asking a bit too much from a stranger.

The hotel room as a place where everyone is a stranger. A place that is yours for just a moment. A temporarily intimate space entered by a maid in order to clean it while, if possible, not leaving a trace of her visit. Each episode of Stranger is set in such a place, and each is captured in one long take. Weaving together a series of episodic stories – some humorous and absurd, some poignant and mysterious – that all unfold within a seemingly confined space, Stranger explores the idea of home while being away from it, and sheds light on the distinctive yet universal experiences of isolation and loneliness.

Compilation of cabaret songs and sketches. Louis Davids sings and acts with Sylvain Poons, Fien de la Mar and Heintje Davids, among others. The film includes such numbers as ‘Naar de Artis’, ‘De volkstuinkoningin’, ‘De draaiende Venus’ and ‘Hollands Hollywood’. Every song was subtitled so that audiences could sing along.

When social hermit May hires a birthday clown for herself, she doesn’t expect Germayne, a disillusioned Pierrot to show up for the job. After May’s emotional baggage spills through her carefully constructed facade right in the middle of it, Germayne takes matters into her own gloved hands.

The film addresses pressing Earth-related issues as seen by a lone astronaut named Antony. The Guardian Moon symbolizes defense against the danger of space debris from above. In addition to the climate crisis, human waste, even in space, determines our fate. Antony is aware of these problems and, as he puts it, “A little waste of man, a huge pile of humanity.”

A modern gay love story, extending over a single day. Robert and Frank are going to work out their problems and find love.

It is 1946. Recently repatriated Paula is trying to feel at home in Friesland after her experiences in a Japanese internment camp. She is taken in by family she has never met before. Her presence is tolerated, but not fully accepted. Suspicion grows among the family when, since her arrival at the potato farm, brown rot is found on one of the potatoes.

In this duo theatre program, the two old friends and frequent collaborators Harrie Jekkers and Koos Meinderts tell about their friendship and the songs they wrote together.

Noah gets invited to come smoke with Isac and his friends. They later start using hard drugs while going out. Noah's friend Sarah tries to keep a hold of her by suggesting to do other things. Noah has a hard time choosing what she wants.

In 1888, the young Annabelle is not permitted to leave the four walls of her parents domain. One day she meets Pieter in her fathers factory and freedom suddenly seems feasible.

Wim Crouwel (1928–2019) was a graphic designer and exhibition designer who, through his studio Total Design, changed the visual face of the Netherlands. His modernism found expression in posters and catalogues for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, postage stamps, logos, and experimental work such as the computer typeface New Alphabet. As a student at the Rietveld Academy, documentary filmmaker Lex Reitsma became fascinated by the idiosyncratic Crouwel—not only because of his work, but also because of his personality. This documentary gives the old master a voice, interwoven with remarkable archival material and stories from family members, colleagues, admirers, and critics.

Registration of the theatre program by the Dutch comedian Sanne Wallis de Vries.

Sigrid Koetse, award-winning actor and grande dame of Dutch theater, lived most of her life in the public eye and was always surrounded by a crowd of admirers. With this short documentary, filmmaker Wytse Koetse shows how his aunt spends her days nowadays, lonely in her Amsterdam home.

Juultje, the most beautiful girl in Volendam and daughter of the strict innkeeper Barendse, sparks a scandal at the village fair when she dances against her father’s rules. She meets Sander, the wealthy son of a shipping magnate, and they fall in love, planning to run away to Brussels. Meanwhile, Piet, a loyal friend secretly in love with her, leaves for Canada to improve his future. In Brussels, Juultje and Sander live in luxury until Sander abandons her. Heartbroken, she returns to the Netherlands and finds work in Amsterdam. Years later, she reconciles with her father before her mother’s death. Piet returns, and at last, Juultje and Piet marry, beginning a new life together.

A séance proves a ghost compelled a spiritualist to kill his rich father.

Fruit farmer Van Leeuwen is diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. His eldest son, lawyer Ernst, arranges to have him admitted in a residential home. Ernst's shy brother Nico, who stayed on to take care of dad and the farm, made a mess of it business-wise. Meanwhile traumatic memories rekindle and dad sort of organizes a riot, demanding an excursion to his orchard.

At night a lonely widow, born and raised in the Dutch East Indies, but now living in the Netherlands, fights off demons from a past she doesn't want to burden her son with.

Jochem Myjers fifth show Even geduld AUB! After four sold-out theatre seasons now available on DVD. Halfway through the try-outs in 2011 a tumor was discovered in his spinal cord . The comedian, beloved by young and old, underwent a serious operation and stormed the podium again after a year. With spectacular staging and raving reviews Even geduld AUB! is a must-see for all fans. Recorded at Royal Theatre Carré on 25 and April 26, 2015.

In Fear, documentary filmmaker Michiel van Erp creates a collage of inhabitants of the city of Amsterdam who struggle with various anxiety disorders. Today, more patients with anxiety disorders seek professional help than those who suffer from depression, making anxiety the number one mental illness in the Netherlands. This film will show how a small number of those patients attempt to overcome their fears, in order to get on with their lives in the crowded cosmopolitan city that Amsterdam is today.

This documentary is a chronicle of the legendary career of the Dutch 80’s band Doe Maar.

The new bank manager tries to get rid of two difficult bank employees by playing them off against each other in a devious way. Looking for weaknesses, acquired privileges are withdrawn and one employee is used to catch the other committing fraud. The pressure continues to mount. Then a former customer is brought in, a man bent on revenge who still hasn't gotten over a bankruptcy from the distant past.

It’s not easy growing up in the suburbs of a big city. Romaissa (12) lives with her unsupportive mom in a small flat in Rotterdam-West. The housing organization decides it’s time to knock the building down and build something new. Romaissa and her neighbours come up with a plan to save the community living there from being split up. The odds are against them. Romaissa has to find her own path in life and the diva’s at school won’t let her off the hook! With a little help from her best friend Lionel, Romaissa might just become a superhero!

The relationship between the humans and animals at a large animal shelter in the Netherlands is one of extremes. On the one hand, this is a place for new opportunities, where both parties can find unconditional love. On the other, the problem cases lead to despair among their caregivers, who have to face the limitations of the system in which they work.

Max, 10, spends Christmas with his family at his grandmother Mimi's house in the mountains. Mimi tells Max stories about trolls, elves, and fairy tale creatures. Max believes her stories, and all his cousins make fun of him. One day, Max walks on the frozen lake, but the ice breaks and he falls into the icy water. He is saved by a troll.

Two brothers end up separated for one of them has mental issues. Meanwhile one of the two follows his dream in becoming a magician.

7-year-old Mia tries to liberate her overworked mother from the clutches of an overpopulated metropolis. In her quest, she unlocks the hidden secrets that make the world turn.

1950: a fatherless family lives in a frighteningly large house somewhere in Amsterdam-Zuid. The family consists of mother Zijdeveld, her 35-year-old son Charles, and her daughter Regina, who is two years younger. Then there is Jozef, the cousin who lives with them and has ambitions to become a writer. The relationship between mother Zijdeveld and Charles is not only special, but also very oppressive and artificial. Trapped in a world of books and literary quotations, mother Zijdeveld does not allow anyone to come between her and Charles. But then Charles announces that he wants to marry Mary, the pharmacist's widow who is suspected of murder...

At the age of 14 Joris Ivens was fond of Cowboys and Indians stories, so he decided to invent one himself. He made a script and used a camera from his father's shop. This became his first film, Wigwam, with his own family as cast. Black Eagle, a bad Indian, kidnaps the daughter of a farmer's family. Flaming Arrow, played by the young director, saves the child from the kidnapper and brings her back to her family. No better conclusion than smoking a peace pipe. Although filmed in the spring of 1912, the film had a theatrical release in December 1915.

In September 2013, it was exactly 12½ years ago that Bas Hoeflaak and Peter van de Witte launched their first full-length theater show 'Teer' under the name Droog Brood. The very best from six theater programs will be collected and forged into a magnificent and classic theater evening. Includes intermission and show trap. It will be fun. For the gentlemen of Droog Brood – who have finally found a reason to perform precious scenes one more time (there is talk of itchy fingers) – but of course also for the audience, who will be presented with an evening of hilarious highlights and will be able to enjoy themselves immerse yourself in a warm atmosphere of sweet melancholy. In short: the ladyfingers have been bought, the Smurfs have been called and Soekeloekie has pulled his proverbial nose out of the grease to frequently put it around the corner.

Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.

Documentary about Constant Kusters, leader of the The Dutch Peoples-Union, a Dutch Neo-Nazi political party.

When grocers's son Daantje Pieters is drafted, he falls for a girl in a blue hat he spots aboard the train to the garrison. At the barracks in The Hague, crafty conman Toontje takes Daantje under his wing. Toontje decides to help him look for his dream girl, but draws the line at them planning an engagement — for such things are not for soldiers.

Past and present are intricately entwined in this poetical reverie, in which a man (Derek de Lint) looks for his childhood memories in his grandparents' deserted country house. He meets himself at various ages in this house full of waning grandeur. The disappearance of his love Equiline plays an important role. In the voice-over, he tells the spectator about his motives for this trip to the 'memory of a memory'.

The wife of a local dictator gets a miscarriage during a failed assault by rebels. The dictators' brother suggesst to present the newly born baby of one a the dead rebels as his posterity.

A meadow, a football. Dried sausages and a filthy dog. And Danny, who needs to fight back his father's fists once and for all.

A noir vision of a paranoid and dangerous Buenos Aires where a group of diverse Porteños are fatefully linked by a brutal killing.

What is the death? What do we feel when we die? It is a truth that no living creature has ever experienced it. My perspective of the death is that, I see life as a before program, and the death as the main program.

"What are we actually doing here?" Miel asks Jack Van Poll, the pianist. "Earning a living, I suppose?" is the laconic reply. But Miel wants more out of life than playing in a jazz band, away from the worries of his wife and child who constantly need money from him. Between dream and deed... but then he is suddenly confronted with harsh reality.

Thomas and Julia are inseparable. When Julia dies in a car accident and her heart is transplanted, Thomas does everything he can to find his beloved's heart.

Registration of the seventh solo show by Lebbis (Hans Sibbel).

The wealthy farmer Kobus Drost is asked by his cousin Verbeek to come to Volendam to discuss the financing of his boat renovation. The meeting with Anna, Verbeek's maid, makes a big impression on Drost. He convinces the young woman to go with him to work on the farm. Drost's older sister is not particularly happy about this, nor are most of the farm workers, who tease the stranger from Volendam. Kobus, who likes Anna, often has to protect her. When he notices after some time that Anna and employee Arend are very fond of each other, he becomes terribly jealous. As soon as Arend is called up for military service, Kobus takes advantage of his absence and asks Anna to marry him. She agrees.

Elvy is making every effort to win the Future Fashion Award in Ibiza. She meets a lot of special people, from world-famous DJs and stressed-out Beach Club owners, to fashion influencers and the daughter of a famous fashion icon. It will be the adventure of her life, but in the end it’s very different from what she had imagined...

Private chauffeur Robert picks up a boy from a schoolyard. They spend the day together within the safe environment of the car and share a moment of being together that unfortunately is not obviously.

53-year-old Barbara is on holiday in Ibiza when she is unexpectedly confronted with a world that is not designed for singles, making her feel personally and financially disadvantaged by her environment. What should have been a relaxing holiday quickly turns into a week of Barbara struggling to be happily alone.

Three young queer people share their experiences on what it’s like to deviate from the straight cis-norm. Throughout the film, painful experiences make room for a more positive perspective, such as the overwhelming sense of connection with millions of other queer individuals worldwide or the freedom that arises as one can relinquish certain expectations. This so-called ‘queer-joy’ is being discovered, providing inspiring and moving insights.

Documentary about the 1964 documentary Mensen van Morgen. Interviews with the subjects of the first film and its maker.

Two years after making his film BLIND KIND, Van der Keuken contacted the blind boy that had impressed him most at the time.

The Turkish girl Arzu, a student at a Dutch high school, is chosen to play the role of Juliet in a school-organized theatrical performance of 'Romeo and Juliet'. She becomes deeply obsessed with the role, seeing parallels with her own life. Her parents intend to arrange her marriage to a boy from Turkey whom she has never met. With the rehearsals, Arzu begins to lead a nerve-wracking double life. Her family knows nothing about her theatrical activities, and when her father finally finds out, he pulls her out of school and advances the wedding date of his daughter. However, the school officials manage to convince her parents to let Arzu play her role. The father watches the premiere with mixed feelings and sees himself reflected in the metaphorical mirror...

Nobody likes the history lessons of master Menno, but when he finds a magical talisman, he throws his pupils in an adventure of all times.

One year after the fatal accident that took away their son Floris when he was 11, the distress of the Mensch family is still visible. Father, mother and their daughter Sacha (now 17) each come to terms with the loss in their own way and become completely alienated from each other. The mother's bouts of depression shape the oppressive mood. The introvert Sacha suffers in these surroundings. She is also about to sit her exams. The truck-driver who killed Floris has been trying to contact the family for a year, but mother anxiously hides his letters. She wants nothing to do with the murderer. Sacha has reached the stage when she wants to know exactly what happened, especially as she, as elder sister, feels guilty about his death. She starts looking for the driver.

An intriguing documentary about up-and-coming funeral tourism in the German-Dutch border region, drawing the audience's attention to the commercialisation of the 'last farewell' in relation to our inhibitions about death.