Mijn Noord

The working-class Tuindorp Nieuwendam neighborhood in Amsterdam-Noord is like a village within the city. Many natives of the Northern Netherlands still live in the characteristically built houses, a unique variation on the Amsterdam School. With humor and Amsterdam directness, they share their stories about what's happening in their lives and in the neighborhood. Recently, a new generation of residents has also discovered the Noord district. How do residents view these changes and the neighborhood's transformation? Was everything better in the past, or are new connections emerging between residents, old and new?

The Way South

Johan van der Keuken went against the grain in 1980: from Amsterdam (on April 30 with the coronation riots and squatting actions) via Paris, southern France and Italy to Egypt. He made his personal travelogue in three parts for VPRO television. Later, he fused the three parts into one long movie.

But They Did: The Re-entry Of The Pike River Mine

Anna Osborn and Sonia Rockhouse were forever changed when the Pike River Mine Disaster stole their loved ones, but instead of sitting down, they stood up! But They Did tells Anna and Sonia's story, following them through the period of time before and during the re-entry of the mine.

Fall 2

Bas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.

Sexwork & Me

21st century legal prostitution through the frank stories of Amsterdam red-light district sex workers at a time when tighter regulation threatens their livelihood.

Land of mines

Western Sahara is a conflict region located in North West Africa. After a bloody war in the region, the land is littered with landmines and war ruminants and explosives. There are about 7 to 10 million landmines still buried there, especially in the area close to the wall built by Morocco and which separates Western Sahara into two. Landmines in the area have a huge impact on life in general; human casualties, cattle and irreversible environmental catastrophes.

I Am Johnnie

A documentary about three men in the criminal environment of Amsterdam as they deal with unemployment, probation, and divorce.

Bruin Jackson Superstar

Bruin has a new mission: to become a superstar, just like his idol Michael Jackson. Although singing is not his greatest talent, he starts - supported by friends and colleagues - to build a music career.

The hidden fire

Silence always surrounds the mine, first when it explodes and then when it eternally haunts its victims. The history of the silence of this fire hidden by Morocco in the sand of Western Sahara has left more than 4,000 victims in what is considered the largest minefield in the world. Daha and Fatimetu suffered the effect of the silence of the mines, their lives changed forever, like that of the Saharawi people who, after 14 years cleaning the desert of artifacts, the rupture of the ceasefire have left the future of the contamination of their territory.

Champs-Elysées

A boy has a dream of traveling to the world, especially to Paris where his uncle lives, but a wall built on his land divides his country and does not allow him to travel or cross to the other side of his land.

Vergeven of vergelden

In their practice, lawyers Klaartje Freeke and Wikke Monster strive to make the criminal justice system more humane. They encourage their clients not to focus solely on guilt and the sentence imposed, but also to consider the impact of what happened and their feelings about it. In every session, they seek to help their clients experience the benefits of looking not only at others, but also, and especially, at themselves.

Voyages au centre de la Terre : Dans les pas de Jules Verne

Document : Amsterdam Backstreets Diary

This is Amsterdam, the city of pleasure. Where there's a front, there's also a back. This documentary captures the bizarre adventures of Yuji Kitano and his undergarment-clad companion, Tsubaki, over roughly one month, primarily in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Neither husband and wife nor lovers, this odd couple infiltrates various hair-raising danger zones in a foreign land, gets involved with shady characters, and somehow ends up attending secret parties... 90 minutes of cold sweat, laughter, and shock.

Western Sahara determined

Western Sahara is one of the most heavily mined territories in the world following decades of conflict with its neighbours. Despite a 1991 ceasefire, most Sahrawis still linger in refugee camps in Algeria because it is too dangerous to live there. Now, some brave young women have taken it upon themselves to clear their ancestral lands of landmines so their people can return.

LALGAM - portraits of survival

Documentary that denounces the damages caused by the use of land mines in Western Sahara and shows the lives of those affected.

The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet

The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet follows the life of designer Aldo van den Nieuwelaar. He designed the iconic A’dammer cabinet, an international design icon, with over seventy versions sold worldwide. Museums acquired his work, and he became a promising name in the design world. But Aldo was more of an artist than an entrepreneur, and his perfectionism clashed with commercial interests. His tense relationship with director Harm Scheltens of furniture manufacturer Pastoe, in particular, escalated into a years-long legal battle over money, recognition, and control.

Ruurdt

In 2023, there were an estimated 30.6 thousand homeless people. This number continues to rise at an alarming rate. One of them is the headstrong Ruurdt. He has difficulty getting help and cannot adapt well to our society. He is now also in danger of losing the houseboat that was assigned to him. 'Ruurdt' is an intimate portrait of a man on the fringes of our society.

The Deminer

In the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, Fakhir, a father of eight, is serving in the Iraqi army. All around him, he sees innocent civilians getting injured by landmines, so he determines to disarm them with his own hands, using just a pocketknife and some wire cutters. He clears thousands of roadside bombs, mines and car bombs, knowing that every time he cuts a wire it could cost him his life—which he seems to find less important than the lives of others. In 2014, by this time having lost a leg, he starts working for the Kurdish Peshmerga, disarming boobytraps left behind by Daesh in and around Mosul. An enthusiastic home video maker, Fakhir collects hundreds of hours of footage of his day-to-day work.

Megalopolis I

First film by Pim de la Parra, about a young Surinamese man in Amsterdam who delivers a “monologue interior” about his dissatisfaction with society and his position as an outsider.

The Price of Shelter

Private-sector rented accommodation for the Surinamese and Antillean Dutch who increasingly moved to Amsterdam from these former colonies in the early seventies was woefully inadequate. In 1982, André Reeder graduated from The Netherlands Film Academy (NFTVA) with Onderneming onderdak (The Price of Shelter) – a documentary about this appalling situation.