Discoveries from Netherlands World Cinema

O is locked up and although his escape attempts keep failing he keeps persisting. In one way or another he'll manage to escape.

How does the Netherlands actually sound? Do we still take the time to listen carefully to the sounds around us? Or is there so much noise that we prefer to shut ourselves off?

A partly mirrored single shot of an early morning Toronto street scene on a single reel Tri-X Super 8mm. The film shows us a complex still life, absorbing all the details in its lightest as well as in its darkest parts of the image.

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 documentary begins with a dramatised reconstruction of the sea voyage by Hartog Simon Pos and his brother Matthijs in the year 1774. They were on their way to Suriname. Nearly two hundred years later, Diego Pos made a trip in the opposite direction: he was the last Pos to leave Suriname. In Ongewisse tijd, Pos returns to Suriname in search of the history of his Jewish family and of Suriname Jews in general. He happens upon unexpected relatives, like Simon Matthijs, who was born out of a slave in the eighteenth century. The search and encounters with various representatives of Jewish communities in Suriname run synchronous with the dramatised story of the brothers Hartog Simon and Matthijs, whose initially close relationship was seriously dampened by love affairs.

Dutch short documentary.

Back in 2003, Alex Agnew was the first Belgian to win the prestigious 'Leids Cabaret Festival' in The Netherlands. He was the winner in both categories: Jury and public. Alex is a mixture of an English father, Belgian mother, an overdoses (action) movies, superheroes, comic books and a lot of music. No quiet, sophisticated humour, but proud to be loud! Rock'n'Roll comedy!

A new father takes his wife and daughter on a journey to his mother’s birthplace in Scotland. It is 1976 – the year in which NASA’s Viking 1 and 2 space probes land on the surface of Mars. They send images of an only vaguely explored area from a great distance, enabling a first look into the history of an alien planet. Like the NASA scientists, the small family are hoping that their journey will give them insights into the past, an understanding of the present situation and perhaps even the chance to anticipate the future.

Isa, a pregnant middle-aged woman, is clearing out her parental home, where her father recently passed away. She is surprised by a visit from her terminally ill mother, with whom she has had little contact since her childhood. The estranged relationship between them leads to a confrontation, in which years of unspoken feelings finally surface. As a result, Isa must make the difficult choice to let go of her mother.

A line is being extrapolated through a grid. When the line surpasses the boundaries of the grid, the process spreads to and reflects on its surroundings. Beyond each boundary the extrapolation of movement is causing deformation in a systematic but speculative way.

After debuting in 1983 with Casta Diva, Eric de Kuyper immediately made Naughty Boys in 1984, a film that he himself described as “a sad musical comedy” in which he pays homage to the old musicals and comedies. The film is set in an unspecified time, somewhere between both World Wars in a large English country house. Six gentlemen in dinner jackets try to maintain the atmosphere of a party that has just ended. Naughty Boys was the second film De Kuyper made with friends and students, but here for the first time they were joined by a “professional” actress, Linda Polan.

At the start of their weekend trip, a couple decides to stop by the House of Books. They want to donate a box of children's books. An exercise in letting go.

Twelve-year-old Ilias’ best friend is murdered by mistake. Searching for the perpetrators, Ilias gets deeper and deeper into the drug world. In the process, he is seduced by money and status. Will he give up his goal or will he remain loyal to his dead friend?

During their lunch break Dave and Fred accidentally shoot a witch.

Documentary made for Dutch television about Nick Cave in Berlin in 1987.

Short film about a soccer player's wife, who begins to feel remorse for the revenge, especially planned by her fellow-footballer's wives, on her adulterous husband. Eventually, she adopts the right, i.e. professional, attitude and saves herself from her distressing situation.

Imperfect Harmony is a film about musical control, explored through a clash between two maestros: avant-garde rebel and Holland’s best-known composer, Louis Andriessen, and chief conductor at Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons. Half a century ago Andriessen vowed he would never compose for a symphony orchestra again. But, against all the odds and after much deliberation, he has agreed to do so. The occasion is the Concertgebouw Orchestra’s 125th jubilee year concert and the commission is a present from the Concertgebouw to the orchestra.

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.

An elderly actress arrives at her holiday home in Bretagne to prepare for a new film. She brings with her numerous scrapbooks and countless film memorabilia. With a personal oeuvre of more than fifty films, the past and present sometimes intertwine. Images of the woman in her beach house mirror images from her films, and images from films intertwine with events from her own life. When a young cyclist breaks down near the house, he challenges the actress to dig deeper into her past. They spend a compact day together. Every question, every image, every article triggers a memory for the woman.

The band of memories is an almost archetypal story of a man and a woman, in which dreams and illusions follow quickly. The path of memory is part of Point Taken. This project consists of four dance films, for which Dutch choreographers and filmmakers joined forces to write the film script.

Life is what happens, while you're busy making other plans

Animation with animals going for a picknick

When 15 year old Ruby realizes she is having her period, she doesn't want to ask her mother to buy her period products, because she knows their financial situation doesn't really allow it. She sets out to solve this problem herself.

Sam is a shy young woman who works as a dog caretaker at the animal shelter in Ostend. Her colleague Koen is a dog behavioural therapist, he teaches people about the upbringing of dogs. Sam prefers to stay with the animals and is fully committed to the daily chores at the shelter. But when Sam meets a nervous young woman who struggles with the upbringing of her dog, she decides to help her in her own way.

The work of the Flemish choreographer Ann van den Broek is very personal. Her intense choreography is dedicated to her own extreme experiences and emotions. Her approach will spare nothing and nobody. She expects unconditional commitment from herself, but also from her dancers. As a result, we get to witness innovative and highly successful dance performances, but also a complicated hate-love relationship with the people around her. In The Lady in Black, director Lisa Boerstra (L.A. Raeven) shows us the extent to which Ann is interwoven with the choreographies, bringing the artist’s life and work together in a new experience.

Discovering the world’s most prestigious orchestras. In this episode: founded in 1888, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra continues to inspire its young conductor, Klaus Mäkelä. Before him, great composers worked closely with the orchestra, including Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky and Gustav Mahler.

When a singing super heroine isolates herself from her surroundings by screaming because of her tragic past, she is forced to overcome her trauma to save the world from a meteorite impact.

Since the pregnancy of his now ex-girlfriend Asha, Dennis (21) is beset by feelings of guilt concerning his Nigerian father’s death sixteen years ago. Plagued by nightmares about the frozen lake his dad drowned himself in, he wants to move back in with his mother. His anxieties seem to be sparked by the imminent birth of his first child. In this drama, a voodoo curse seems to be the only way for Dennis to cast off this burden lying on himself and his loved ones.

BELLUM is a film about how war trauma still grips the lives of three generations today. In a hiding room created for this film, we see a Jewish family breaking the silence by finally starting a conversation about suppressing and passing on war trauma. We examine how trauma is passed on from parent to child. Are later generations able to break free from a traumatic experience that they have not experienced themselves?

Stage registration of the first comedy special by the Dutch comedian Martijn kardol. Kardol tells about his fears, caused by terrorist attacks, and about being a control freak.

Short documentary.

Emma, an African woman, falls in love with Andrew, a white male. She loves him so much that she decides to abandon her husband and their two children... Seven years later, one of her sons recognizes his mother on the streets of Rotterdam. She recognizes him too and she thinks back to the last week before she left her husband and children.

Is a convent anyplace for a boy? Gabriël is a lad of about eight, probably a foundling, who lives in a convent, the only child among about 20 nuns. Except for Sylvia, a young nun, Gabriël doesn't get on well with others. He thinks of himself as an angel, impatient to grow wings and to fly, impatient with earth's rules. He's been collecting feathers from the many geese on the convent grounds. What happens next seems to horrify everyone except Sylvia, who may be in on Gabriël's secret.

Inay (9) and her brother have a day off from school and they have to join their father who needs to go on a special trip. During this route, through the awakening city, Inay secretly tries to cause a delay. She knows that if they arrive late at their destination, she will be rewarded with loads of sweet desserts.

Dries, a farmer and a widower, lives with his mother-in-law Grietje and his son Peter. He falls in love with Minna, a widow, and marries her despite the opposition of his family and friends. In anger his son Peter leaves home to enlist, while Grietje takes up her residence in another cottage. Six years pass, during which Grietje becomes acquainted with Minna's daughter Dina. Peter falls ill in Sumatra, but after falling in love with Dina, through the medium of photographs, he recovers and is drafted home again to Holland. He meets Dina and the two find that they truly love.

A 45-minute absurdist musical special built around the works of Dutch writer Gerard Reve and presented by the man himself. Featuring poems, songs, sketches, alcohol, tango and a rather special donkey.

The sweet girl Cinderella has a hard life with her stepmother and stepsisters. They grant her no happiness and make her do all the dirty chores around the house. In her dreams, however, she is free and dreams of a happy life. When she falls in love with the prince during the Royal Ball and is given the chance to win his heart, she doesn't hesitate for a moment. But at the stroke of midnight, the spell will wear off, and she must leave the ball. Will she succeed in starting a new life?

A woman’s voice passionately addresses the enigmatic figure “M” in a narrative that initially portrays a positive shift as one colonial ruler replaces another. However, the story ultimately exposes the persistent and oppressive nature of the colonial enterprise within an enduring framework.

Two Amsterdam window workers are rudely interrupted by the ugliest sight imaginable: The Mayor’s Erotic Prison, a building where the evil city government wants to lock away sex workers for good! Eww! Luckily their domme friend knows the perfect solution: just sit on it!

When painter Pieter Athmer discovered that his inspiration David Hockney was living in nearby Normandy, he created a surprise for him, and left on a roadtrip from Amsterdam to France with his good friend, director Gerardjan Rijnders.

Falling in love feels like a bubble in which the rest of the world seems to disappear. Daily life seem to be temporarily suspended. The world freezes, an eclipse in time. Your senses and the world around you is on fire, and everyone is getting burned. It’s overwhelming, frightening and scary but above all magical. FIRST LOVE is a visualization of that feeling that once was.

The peaceful life of a notary’s family is disrupted during the Second World War when several German officers are quartered in their home, holding half a dozen fleeing Jews captive. The local resistance is determined to help the prisoners escape, but it won’t be without struggle. A worthy attempt to illustrate the futility of war, and of racism in particular.

A conscript is given leave to visit his wife who has been admitted to hospital after a road accident. Dutch student film in the vein of the French Nouvelle Vague, praised at the time by directors like Godard and Bertolucci.

A man drives his blind wife to a picnic spot he hopes she won't return from, but she won't get out of the car.