Een van de Jongens

Afghan documentary maker Najiba Noori offers not only a loving and intimate portrait of her mother Hawa, but also shows in detail how the arduous improvement of the position of women is undone by geopolitical violence. The film follows the fortunes of Noori’s family, who belong to the Hazaras, an ethnic group that has suffered greatly from discrimination and persecution.

After twenty years, Wiam Al Zabari starts a conversation with his father. Why did they flee from Iraq? Why was that never discussed? Will he be able to let go of the past and embrace a Dutch future?

Ever since there’s only one male northern white rhino remaining on earth, armed bodyguards protect him, tourists are standing in line to make a selfie with him, journalists rush to Kenya to tell his story and scientists are determined to find ways to reproduce his species. What is so attractive about the threat of extinction? How does this reflect on us?

The “Kindertelefoon” (Child Helpline) in the Netherlands provides a listening ear. One girl talks about being home alone virtually all week; another’s sad because her parents are getting divorced. A boy in an asylum seekers’ center is worried about the future, while another boy doesn’t want to be gay and hopes these feelings will pass. Every day, the Kindertelefoon takes calls like these from children who want someone to talk to. But children also call to talk about their pets, to practice their audition for The Voice Kids or to make pranks. The recordings of these phone conversations are accompanied by images that quite literally give color to the conversations, and that beautifully reflect their tone—sometimes hilarious or naughty, but more often sad or heartrending.

Ethiopian Daniel Hoek has no doubt in his mind that if his Dutch father had not abandoned him he would never have turned to crime. His Dutch father, Joop Hoek, has no doubt in his mind that if his Dutch-Indonesian father had not abandoned him he would have grown up to be a different person. In The Bastard two separate stories of an adult child and an elderly father are inextricably intertwined. Together they tell a harrowing tale about fate and DNA and about how the lack of a father influenced these lives.

When the Israeli army invades the Gaza Strip in 2023, Rania is eight months pregnant. She gives birth to triplets just as her hometown in northern Gaza is bombed. One girl dies at birth, while the other two babies, Jowan and her brother Hamoud, are so weak that they have to be placed in an incubator. When the hospital is evacuated, the twins are moved to southern Gaza, where Rania’s sister Nisreen takes over their care. A travel ban prevents the babies from returning to their mother.

A New Year’s Eve party. Among those present are three friends, whom we follow as they leave the party to roam through Amsterdam. Although the atmosphere is calm and at times relaxed, it slowly emerges that they share a great sorrow. In the meantime, a whole year passes by, almost nonchalantly, in the course of one day.

Giovanni's dream is to become the first boy to compete in the Dutch synchronized swimming championship. He's got just one more exam to go.

Wim has been living with locked-in syndrome since a severe heart attack. He can neither speak nor move and is cared for at home by his wife. For the weekend his three sons are taking care of him, so that she can enjoy a few days off.

Biniam Girmay is a promising young cyclist from Eritrea. He dreams of taking part in the Tour de France one day. Despite all the obstacles in his way, Biniam climbs the world rankings step by step and competes in races in Europe. Will he manage to join a top team for the pinnacle of competitive cycling?

What is 'a mother' really? Does Google provide an unequivocal answer? Wikipedia? Friends perhaps? The latter call it 'coming home' or 'someone who’s always there for you'. Now that his sister, twenty-five years after their own mother passed, is expecting her first child, filmmaker Wieke Kapteijns decides to examine the 'mother' concept. For the first time in his life, he has to venture into unknown territory and face up to long-suppressed grief