Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

The doorbell rings, but Erik doesn't feel like answering. He hides in a closet, after someone else lets in the visitor. Dutch short film based on a story by Remco Campert.

One evening, a blind woman comes out of her car with a tear-stained face. In a flashback, we see the preceding events. She sits on a swing and falls for a man's voice who asks her for directions. But she does not want to touch his face. As a girl, she could fantasise about her face, until she touched it. Now, she fears the same with the man.

Two fishermen try to save a Salvation Army lady from drowning.

In recent years, the number of people living in a bus or camper has increased significantly. But for this growing group, there are fewer and fewer places where you can legally park. The Kardinge car park in Groningen, a popular refuge for people staying in their campers, is also under pressure. Does the Netherlands actually have room for nomads and what drives people to want to live off the beaten track? Filmmaker Tom Tieman temporarily goes into hiding at the Kardinge car park and meets the current residents. Read more

Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV architects, always has 100 projects going at once. Documentary filmmaker Jan Louter followed him for two years to make "Under Tomorrow's Sky", a candid and open-hearted look at the highs and lows of the architecture profession.

Following an amateur soccer match, one of the players (Peter Heerschop) looks for his ball. He finds it, cruelly floating in the middle of a brook, just out of reach. The soccer player takes things to extremes in his occasionally slapstick-like attempts to recover the ball without getting his clothes wet. And he does not make any friends doing it.

A sustainable world. That is the dream and mission of Jan Terlouw. In this documentary, the writer, politician, and scientist calls for action. 'It is actually so simple. In one hour, the sun radiates an amount of energy to the Earth that would be enough for humanity for a year. In a technical sense, harnessing solar energy is child's play,' says Jan Terlouw. The common thread of the documentary is *Natuurlijk*, the 2018 Book Week essay he wrote. The documentary offers an exclusive glimpse into Terlouw's life and features other sustainable pioneers, including neuropsychologist Margriet Sitskoorn, star chef Joris Bijdendijk, Joos Ockels (Wubbo's widow), and Plastic Soup Surfer Merijn Tinga.

The lonely teenager Yo hurls tomatoes in frustration and accidentally hits Lydia, an elderly, disabled woman. Rushing to her aid, he soon discovers that Lydia is not as helpless as she seems. Gradually, the lines between perpetrator and victim begin to blur.

In pursuit of professional success, Sophie left her personal life barren. As her high school reunion approaches, she feels compelled to present a successful image of her life and hires a stranger to play the role of her husband. However, as time passes and their 'relationship' continues, their connection starts to feel less like an act and more like reality..

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.

Two brothers - fishermen - fall for the same girl. So one decides to kill the other. But the attempt fails.

Suleyman returns home after serving seven years, only to find his apartment block has been seized by drug dealers. When drawn into the violence surrounding the complex, his sole focus becomes keeping his mother safe.

After murdering his mother, the Queen, Orestes is chased by the Furies, the goddesses of vengeance: Alecto , Magaera and Tisiphone. They came for Orestes to avenge his terrible crime.

Short experimental film by Nan Wang

Racing driver Jimmy meets French model Annette at the racetrack, who is working in Amsterdam for a while. A romantic relationship develops between the two, but they are unable to continue their mutual feelings of love. Annette realizes this first and feels compelled to return to Paris. Now that he no longer has Annette, Jimmy loses control of himself, which makes him unsuitable for his work as a racing driver.

When Peter is 17, he accidentally discovers that he has a twin brother. Peter and Erik were placed for adoption after their birth. Why did this happen? The twin brothers investigate why they were adopted after their birth. Were they part of a social experiment?

During a persecution against 'The Way' around 34 A.D. a Jerusalem citizen called Sem wants to leave his past behind and moves to another country, only to find out that an important piece of that past literally awaits him there.

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.

Filmmaker Maarten de Schutter attempts to reconstruct the lost memories of their mother, AIDS activist and feminist anthropologist Martine de Schutter. Ten years after she was killed by Russia in the Donbas War, Maarten tries to assemble what’s left behind of her life and their shared past.

In his (Poelifinario price winning) seventh comedy show the Dutch comedian Kees Torn remembers the death of loved ones. Torn reflects, in his own way, on life and death.

A feud between Arend and his two brothers derails when his wife Sylvia announces she is pregnant but refuses to say from whom.

A disenchanted young couple, Oi and Sakko, meet on an abandoned railway track and drift through a series of loosely connected scenes and dialogues, often under the influence of thorn apple. Their elusive bond is anchored by a stolen Mercedes, which becomes a potent symbol of alienation, status, and the illusions of modern life.

A black-and-white study of ennui and emotional disconnect, where ordinary gestures, of rising, walking, dreaming, fracture within a world already eroding.

The thirty-somethings planned a Christmas trip to Lapland months ago, but the journey there is not exactly going smoothly. The app group has fallen silent, Bart and Pieter aren't working well together, Lot is getting sucked deeper and deeper into Boas' trendy group of friends, Nora's heavily pregnant belly is about to burst, no one shows up at Saar's farewell party, and Elias and Alex have completely different expectations of the upcoming reunion. Fortunately, in fairytale Lapland, they get the ultimate chance to mend all the cracks. But Christmas always has its own surprises.

To forever be an outsider in your own country or roam freely in an international but tiny kingdom? That is the choice Tobias, who was born deaf, seems to be faced with.

Two parents buy an AI infused teddy bear for their daughter. At first the bear seems like the perfect addition to their household, but that all changes when it reveals its true intentions...

Registration of the fifth theatre program by the Dutch comedy duo (Niels) Van der Laan & (Jeroen) Woe.

Three young drill rappers fight for respect in a world where words and weapons blur the line between music and violence. Their world feels like war, a battle that is barely comprehensible to outsiders. In candid conversations, Realest, Takerisk and Gogetter explain how feuds arise, escalate and sometimes literally bring them to the edge of the abyss.

In a disintegrating landscape of immortal life, "Princess" follows the main character, Xana. As he struggles to recall his memory in order. An old tape machine becomes both a tool and an obsolete artifact, capturing the protagonist’s collapsing sense of self. Synthetic vocal layers and monologues reveal an identity constantly dissolving and reforming in abstraction. The film explores the brutal erosion of human presence, where technological promise fails to stabilize consciousness, leaving only fleeting fragments of a once-coherent existence.

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.”

Branko dwells on the fringes of Belgrade society. Isolated and unable to sleep, he speaks to no-one. His only obsession seems to be his younger brother, whose muddy shoes, bloodstained sheets, and murky whereabouts unsettle him. As paranoia sets in, Branko realises his brother isn't the strange one. He is.

Beppie, Margie and Lola, the three talented daughters of American millionaire James Brown, set course to Amsterdam with their art teacher ms. Polly Dewar. There all three of them fall for the charms of attractive tenor Adelqui, the boyfriend of famous diva Anny.

Kalvijn and a group of friends make a startling discovery while playing XIII.

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.

Join André Rieu on his global adventures in Fiesta Mexicana as he finally recovers from illness to delight fans all over the world with magical performances of some of his best-loved music. Taking in the magnificent surroundings of Africa, Mexico and the sub-tropical Flower Island of Mainau in Germany, this emotional and exciting journey fully captures the enduring magic of The King of the Waltz. André’s performances include Mexican Hat Dance, Hava Nagila, La Paloma, Cielito Lindo, Amazing Grace, Earth Song, and many more.

Luke has big news to share with his friends (and his boyfriend Jesse) so he decides to host a Skype call. However, things take a turn for the worse when Peter Loft, a notorious child murderer, suddenly jumps into the chat. With the threat of death looming, will Luke and his friends be able to stay safe, or will the Skype call end in tragedy?

A 15 minute documentary about making ' The Patrick'.

Linde has a job on the side as a chambermaid in a luxury hotel. Her seventeenth birthday seems a day like any other at the hotel, until she hears some alarming noises coming from one of the rooms: screaming and crying. Later, she sees how a man pushes a Nigerian girl into a car. When she realises her peer is probably the victim of human trafficking, she becomes aware of the shady sides of society and of her privileged position.

A stop-motion music video for "Stap In"

On a summer day, the paths of two boys unexpectedly cross.

A woman takes revenge on her cheating husband by inviting his mistresses on their anniversary party. She thanks all of them and announces she's going to divorce him.

Documentary about the Dutch film director Adriaan Ditvoorst.

TV registration of the third theatre program by the Dutch comedian Henry van Loon. The show is about insomnia.

Fisherman Rowin hardly catches enough fish to make ends meet. But when he meets a mysterious man at his regular fishing spot, his life seems to take a radical turn.

Detective Wikkobus suffers from 'the blues'. After fifty-five years of letting other people dictate his life, without having taken any initiative, only hanging around the blues café, drinking whiskey and searching for things that don't matter anyway, he has had enough of it. Wikkobus decides to go and find himself because, as he knows: 'Hell is what you make of it.'

Since 2018, artist Sebastián Díaz Morales (1975) has filmed the streets of Amsterdam every first Monday of the month at 12 o'clock. His camera records daily life through every season. These serene moments blend with the testing of the air raid siren, a loud, howling sound that warned of bombardments during the Second World War. Today, wars still rage in other countries, but when the alarm sounds in Amsterdam, life continues as usual. The siren has become like an old custom. Once it signaled danger; now it's an everyday urban sound along with car horns and bicycle bells. The video reveals this odd truth: a system meant to protect us has faded into the back-ground. The air raid siren so familiar to the city will probably be terminated at the end of 2025. Díaz Morales offers a farewell salute to an alarm that no longer sounds the alarm. Hear the future!

An Italian Don Juan and his friend from zaïre are looking for the maternity ward called 'Sacred Heart'.

"I painted the worlds entering the eyes." In her day, painter and portraitist Sofonisba Anguissola was much celebrated. In this sumptuous animation, she is rescued from the realm of obscurity and given new life in an epistolary missive to her pupil, Flemish master Anthony Van Dyck.

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