Zeppers

For four seasons, lone wolf Eddy van Wessel travels along the Ukrainian front lines. Now that the Netherlands' most awarded war photographer is in the twilight of his successful career, he wants to take the ultimate photo one more time, the image that summarizes the entire conflict and that makes all the struggles, traumas and setbacks he has endured worthwhile.

A top executive who can't bear to regard himself as a loser, even after nearly dying in the New York marathon; a woman unable to cope with the loss of her wealthy status after her divorce; and an ambitious financial couple confronted with their unresolved family matters. Every Sunday, in their upper class Bloemendaal church, the cutting sermons of reverend Ad van Nieuwpoort shake their faith and existence to the core. What drives people to be crushed by the weight of their ambitions?

A documentary road movie composed as a pop album. Twelve text snippets by Bob Dylan give just as many fans a basis to elucidate their relationship with the legendary folk singer who then turned 65. This produces a portrait of Dylan followers in the US, which appears to be as divers as the population of this dominant world power. Two schoolgirls that sing to their idol, a therapist that bases his lessons on Dylan, an ultraconservative website administrator, a soldier packing his things for Iraq and some figures that have placed themselves, consciously or not, outside society. Dylan himself is conspicuous by his absence. The tumbling cardboards with text scraps refer to the music video of Subterranean Homesick Blues from DA Pennebaker's Dylan portrait Don't Look Back (1967). It gradually becomes clear that you can always put yourself in the right with Bob, because everybody can distil their own truth from his lyrics, as long as you interpret them creatively.

Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) is one of the world’s most read authors from the Netherlands. This diplomat, Sinologist and scholar is mainly known for his detective novels, starring 'Judge Dee'. Filmmaker Rob Rombout follows in his footsteps to discover the author’s legacy - via his diaries, the people he inspired and those who witnessed his extraordinary life.

A personal documentary by Denise Janzee, made in an attempt to get closer to her mother Willeke van Ammelrooy. On movie sets and on screen, Denise saw her mother cry, laugh and fight. At home, however, Willeke shut herself off when she was sad. “I’ll only come back out once I’m smiling again. Such is my way,” she used to say. The only time Denise really saw her cry was at the funeral of her father Leendert Janzee. He committed suicide when Denise was six years old. His decision to do so wasn’t unexpected, but his death nevertheless meant the ultimate loss for Willeke. She had wanted to let him live through her love. She feels defeated and locks herself in until she is ready to face the world again. Meanwhile she expresses herself through her characters. In this compelling film mother and daughter look back on this deciding and emotional period in their lives, illustrated by home movies.

The documentary focuses on the struggles of those who survived the long siege by German forces during World War II (from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944). The three million inhabitants of Leningrad (now renamed St Petersburg) suffered extremes of starvation and deprivation.

One day, Dutch film maker van der Horst was given her inheritance: 6 square meters, one sixth of a small, wooden house in the Russian countryside where her mother grew up. It was as if life had handed her a card she felt forced to play. She began a journey into the past, back into the childhood of her Russian mother and her five sisters, all of whom struggled with fear, famine and war in Stalin’s Russia; experiences that left them scarred to their very soul. Aliona’s quest into the lives and fate of her family becomes a loving, poignant, and poetic film with Chekhovian characters. Accompanied by the magical animation of acclaimed Italian artist Simone Massi, unimaginable events in the Soviet past are given an immediate charge. Along with the stories of ordinary people living in the small farmhouse, the film maker tells the tale of Soviet terror, immense bravery and a fear that has never left those four walls.