Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

Registration of the theatre show by the Dutch comedian Rayen Panday.

Feature film about the life of Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929). Aletta Jacobs knows from an early age that she wants to become a doctor. She asks Thorbecke to allow her to attend university and, after completing her studies, becomes the first female doctor in Amsterdam. Here, she focuses in particular on sexual problems in women and campaigns for universal suffrage. Director Nouchka van Brakel appears in the film as an interviewer who questions contemporaries about the life and work of Dr. Jacobs. The interviews give an impression of the flood of negative reactions that the feminist provoked. However, when Aletta looks back on her life at the end of the film, many photos and letters show how much she was ultimately appreciated.

Registration of the seventh solo show by the Dutch comedian Pieter Derks.

Movie about Piet.

On the last day of the year, a dispirited work-at-home phone interpreter has her moribund life turned upside down when she answers an unexpected emergency call.

Recording of the hilarious comedy show "Gabbers" with Jandino Asporaat, Philippe Geubels, Roue Verveer, and Guido Weijers. In no fewer than four sold-out shows, these top comedians recently brought the house down at the Ziggo Dome. It's high time the rest of the Netherlands got to enjoy the acts of this foursome too. The show features a variety of comedy, with the gentlemen showing an unknown side of themselves in addition to stand-up comedy.

Thirteen-year-old Czech boy and a Belgian girl of the same age who meet at a roadhouse facility want to meet and talk to each other in a short time between lunch and their departure. With the help of an Arab truck driver and an African football player, they overcome the language barrier and manage to spend a few minutes without their families. Both share a modern European experience in this modest location. "Divine Sparks" offers a pleasant story about the power of communication and prejudices.

A modest man witnesses the deadly accident of a renowned writer and steals his manuscript. At home the man receives the sequel of the manuscript on the fax, written in the same handwriting. He decides to publish the book under his own name. He becomes very successful, until his fans start to ask for another book.

The well-behaved Prosper De Leeuw from Lier is a grocer and, in his spare time, a member of a choir called "Het Ruisende riet" (The Rustling Reeds). Both at meetings and rehearsals, he shows admirable dedication to the cause. The choir wins first prize in Antwerp. Everyone celebrates heartily in the café until Prosper breaks a valuable vase. He is thrown out and, without a penny in his pocket, he stumbles back to Lier. On top of that, he contracts severe pneumonia. The whole town is shocked because Prosper De Leeuw is suddenly on his deathbed. Prosper confesses everything to his wife.

A personal search for the essence of keeping things at a time when the digital is superseding the material.

In our society, where self-fulfillment seems to have become an obligation, identical twin sisters enter a retreat. Encouraged by their spiritual coach, Vera and Josefien are searching for their own selves. When Vera finds out that she wants to free herself from her sister, their relationship and identity as twins are put to the test.

What do you do if you want to keep reality at a distance? You put a camera in between, just like the boy that unrelentingly lets his camera run at his father’s funeral. His mother can order him to put the thing away as much as she wants, the son keeps capturing what his eyes don’t want to see and his heart doesn’t want to feel. In the process, the handheld perspective also represents the mourning of a child who’d obviously rather play than weep.

The film follows two colourful labour brokers, young Toon and old Toon. They speak candidly about their dubious practices and come across as surprisingly likeable. Yes, they profit from exploiting workers — but those workers are often more than willing to go along with the system. Ultimately, De koppelbazen asks who is truly responsible for these questionable practices.

Stan has been friends with Gijs for a while. He slowly comes to realize that their friendship might not be what it used to be. The way Gijs treats him is upsetting and Stan finally decides to stand up for himself.

A Hollywood producer tries to grab the role of a lifetime.

The film describes the first working day of a twelve-year-old girl, shortly after the turn of the century. After a miserable childhood in a proletarian family, where she was mother to five toddlers, the sensitive girl follows in the footsteps of her parents and seventeen-year-old sister and sets off for the brickworks. The girl bravely defends herself at work, enduring the boys' bullying without tears, but when the day comes to an end, the foreman tells her that she must go to Krevelt, the boss, to be registered.

1992: The undocumented Ghanaian Agymah (50) lives a secluded life as a cook in the outskirts of Amsterdam. When the ambitious dreamer Nina (12) arrives, Agymah is effectively forced to become her guardian. Nina drives Agymah crazy with her callous way of life and her eagerness to make contact with the outside world. Gradually, though, Agymah comes to understand that this is exactly what he has been escaping from and he realizes he must choose for life instead of waiting for death. When El Al flight 1862 crashes into their building, Agymah goes on a desperate search for the girl that gave him a reason to live. Into Thin Air is the first film based on the Bijlmer crash. It tells a human story of an event that has been branded into the collective memory of The Netherlands. Officially there were 43 fatalities, but because of the large number of illegal residents the actual figure will never be known.

A short government funded industrial documentary showing the hard work and craftsmanship of labourers in the leather industry that otherwise goes unnoticed, (deserving as much attention as the exploits of a famous boxer).

This short movie takes us through beautiful landscapes and oppressive spaces. A dream sequence that leads to liberation, on the border between imagination and reality. We travel with a boy who matures. He dreams, he dances, he is the conductor. The only.

In this debut comedy by director Erik Terpstra, an ordinary middle-class gentleman picks up a colorful but degenerate and no-good beatnik/hippie hitchhiker and inexplicably invites him home to meet the wife and kids. The resulting conflicts between the hitchhiker, who respects no rules or boundaries, and the family, provide the substance for most of the humor in this sincere but not especially well-thought-out film. Reviewers who saw the film at the 1967 Mannheim Film Festival expressed the opinion that it was an unformed work by a promising talent.

In this short 20 minute black and white Belgian documentary, the director, Paul Haesaerts, visualised Pablo Picasso’s flow of imagination when the Spanish painter drew on large glass plates in front of the camera – like a live show of a greatest artist in performing a few masterstrokes that outlines a dove, bull, flower, man or woman and whatnot. (This technique of filming his painting from the other side of the glass plates precedes The Mystery of Picasso (1956), another famous documentary film on Picasso). (via http://www.kubrickians.com/2012/07/08/visite-picasso-1949-paul-haesaert/)

"If only these walls could speak and tell us their stories" Based on the same name novel by Vonne van der Meer, the movie is set on the Dutch island Vlieland, telling the diverse stories of the people visiting cottage Duinroos (Dune rose) over the course of the summer. Against the background of the idyllic nature, the individual stories of the guests develop as their relational perils and personal moments of love, desire, loss and trust show the world as it is. Without knowing, and almost imperceptibly, the visitors' lives intertwine and join into one story.

A man canoes through the the Rhine

The sun is shining, but it is not a cheerful day. Eight-year-old Linus sees it all happen. Mummy comes home with her nasty new friend to take away her stuff. Papa is sulking in the garden, while the neighbour peeps over the hedge. Even a pizza is no fun anymore. For a very short while, the familiar feeling of yesteryear is accidentally back, and then it is over. Big tragedy, captured in small details.

A young artist becomes transfixed by two identical women who are two halves of the same person.

TV adaptation of Eduard Douwes Dekker's 1872 stage play.

The fairy tale of the little mermaid begins on a beautiful day when, during a sudden, violent storm, the prince's ship is wrecked with all hands lost. The prince is saved by the little mermaid, who sings a beautiful song for him with her lovely, pure voice. Unfortunately, her father forbids her from having any contact with the human world. Just before the prince wakes up, the little mermaid quickly dives back into the sea. When the prince wakes up, he only remembers a beautiful voice, but whose? The girl with this beautiful voice must become his bride! And so begins the prince's search for his bride. The evil sea witch has heard and seen everything in her magic ball. She thinks this is the perfect opportunity to find a husband for her stupid and ugly daughter. The sea witch devises a wicked plan to keep the little mermaid and the handsome prince apart. Will the sea witch succeed, or will true love prevail?

On a quest to obtain some misdelivered camera batteries, Sam finds himself in a Rotterdam-based sex shop. Here he meets Marty who works there, and this chance encounter turns into a cinematic project between the two. When Sam turns the camera towards this new stranger, the two end up embarking on a year-long journey to create a film together. Their shared process of self-discovery turns this playful desktop film into a profound meditation on the nature of non-fiction film.

The film reveals the vampirism of capital according to Karl Marx, showing the life of immigrant workers in the Netherlands. Filmed with dreamlike calm, it shows their wait in forgotten places, living in precarious conditions where the company deducts rent from their salary, while the camera gives them a voice.

In this short documentary, we take a look at the history and future of roller derby in the Netherlands, while also touching on subjects such as image and the rise of men’s teams in this traditionally female sport. We tried to capture the Roller Derby culture with grungy 16mm film overlays and an eclectic mix of colors, switching from black and white, back to color. This, combined with the use of stock footage, the Whip It trailer and choice of music really help to sell the vibe and sensibilities of roller derby.

In a Dutch high-rise neighbourhood where time seems to have frozen, the 28-year-old Moroccan Shalky has lost his car keys. During the search for his keys, he gets distracted by the daily routine of the neighbourhood and ends up in various adventures. With all sorts and conditions of residents: a slick barber in a garage box, a side-tracked gold digger, a lonely cripple and an old acquaintance. The local residents in this deadpan drama do not have much, but at least they have each other.

Ducrot and Ninette accuse Mario and Anny of owing their wealth to the murderous effects of Mario's bombs. Anny leaves for the front to care for the wounded. Third part of Maurits Binger's epic silent trilogy. Most of the film is considered lost – a single fragment remains.

Sunset from a Rooftop takes place in Belgrade. While the city is being hit by NATO bombings, Ivana is preparing herself for a night out while telling her boyfriend the news of her pregnancy.

Nocturnal Butterflies is Servais' serene and melancholic homage to Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux (1897-1994), whose architectural paintings serve as the basis for the mise-en-scène for the film, and whose opaquely gazed women represent the enigmatic, silent witnesses who guard the secrets of the eccentric artist's curious world of precisely rendered, hermetic construction.

Documentary about a father, who wants to find a lesbian woman, who is willig to marry his homosexual son...

Sweder Speelman leads a successful life with his wife Cecile. But he realizes he's a spectator of his own life. Sweder decides to disappear to see how Cecile responds to his absence. As he observes his wife, he loses touch with reality.

In his very first ‘independent film’, Dutch master filmmaker Johan Van der Keuken presents an image of Amsterdam in the sixties. He set out taking just his camera, without any pre-defined concept. The result is a poetic observation of Amsterdam by a deeply committed filmmaker.

Twelve-year-old Wim has feelings of guilt about his father's death, which cause him to get emotionally confused. Eventually, Wim loses control completely.

When Youtuber Gio's parents go on holiday, a party in their brand new home gets completely out of control and half the house burns down. Gio has two weeks to repair the house while he continues to upload videos as if nothing is wrong.

Nightmarish animation with a great soundtrack, about dreams and sacrifice. By well-known Dutch multitalented director Rosto. Made in France. Rosto, one of the most extravagant and famous animators from the Netherlands, had to finance this film in France. Lonely Bones is a hallucinogenic film about dreams and making sacrifices. 'Hail! To all the souls-oh. Hiding on rotting floors. Little did they know that they would make today.' (Rosto) Screened before Frankenstein's Army.

At the end of their centuries-long lives, two friends meet again. One is dissolving into thin air, the other has grown a beak and is covered in feathers. Together they look back. What was of value?

This documentary follows the members of the ambitious rapgroup ANBU gang in an important period of their lives. Their lives are portrayed through their performances, which are full of swag, attitude and lootje.

Short documentary.

The movie stars you see on the screen have once been selected amongst others. The glamor of the premiere is preceded by mug shots, selections, interviews, wining, dining, backstabbing and sex. In the end, everyone gets what they deserve.

Journalist Stella discovers the secrets of the Lotte de Heus Verolmen, the widow of the Dutch nazi-collaborator party NSB-frontman Ewald de Heus Verolmen.

A cinematic examination of the emotional connection between the Western audience and those affected by the climate crisis on the island of Tuvalu.

When Lily wakes up in a surreal cosmetic clinic with someone else's lips on her face, she is determined to find out what happened to her. A colorful, stylized trip with killer lipstick.

Step into the shoes of an Intern working in the Rusty Lake Office as he prepares a special 10-year anniversary surprise in the form of a new free-to-play Rusty Lake adventure - The Mr Rabbit Magic Show!

The Dubbel family participates in a chocolate competition organized by Ko Bonoca. When problems arise at the chocolate shop, they are forced to move to a campsite, where their mother, Chanelle, leads the entertainment team and their father, Jan, runs the kitchen.

John Bailey carelessly ignite a fire in the forest but with his imagination and a little help from a new friend, he is able to put the blaze and win back the favours of the forest inhabitants.

Kurdish Iranian filmmaker Beri Shalmashi travels from the Netherlands to the border with Iran in Iraqi Kurdistan, where she encounters activists who participated in the protests that were sparked by the death of Jina Amini in Tehran in September 2022. She explores first hand accounts of the current uprising and life as a Kurdish person under the oppressive Islamic regime. What is boiling at the edge of the revolution?

Everyone is worried about 16-year Lieke who has just lost her mother. But despite her grief Lieke continues her life in the swimming pool where she enjoys workouts with her coach. But then her trainer decides to train another girl.

Ava is a child with a limitless imagination. She is a city kid who loves to play in her bedroom and letting herself get carried by her vivid dreams. Sometimes her dreamy fantasies find a way out of her porous bedroom walls and she finds herself riding on her mini motorcycle on infinite highway tunnels. Sometimes, reality finds its way back into her bedroom bringing her into dangerous situations. How thick can the child’s bedroom walls be? The films points at the boundaries and ambiguous limits of the child’s imaginary when facing violence.

A man cares for his comatose wife at their rundown home. After a transgression, he fears something sinister has awakened in her.