De Chinese keizerin (2024)

Invisible

From schools and offices to hospitals and streets, cleaners are working everywhere, tirelessly and modestly. They work hard and keep society running. Invisible confronts viewers with their own involvement and reveals the price paid for the appearances we cherish.

Wonder Boy

At age 25, Olivier Rousteing was named the creative director of the French luxury fashion house, Balmain. At the time, Rousteing was a relatively unknown designer, but in the decade since, he’s proven his business prowess and artistic instinct by leading Balmain to new heights. Wonderboy gives the viewer the rare opportunity to experience the inner sanctum of the fashion world, as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this extraordinary individual while he works.

Tribu

Ruben and Gio have been recently adopted by Evelyn and Memo. The four of them try to create a home where the past, the bad and good stories, and the dreams in common for the future blend all together.

Prince Consorts: In the Shadow of the Crown

No profession, no say, no freedom of expression. Life as a prince consort is not exactly pleasure taxing. No constitution ascribes any function to the husband of a queen. Nowhere does it say what he must or must not do. A life in the shadow of the crown. Can that go well?

Sex, Drugs & Bicycles

The documentary that answers the question: is having month-long double paid vacations, no fear of homelessness, and universal health care the nightmare we've been warned about? The answer may surprise you.

Le Fils

Plot unavailable

Tinkebell - Who Killed the Blue Bird?

Artist Katinka Simonse, alias Tinkebell, is a controversial, very mediagenic phenomenon. In her universe there is no distinction between life, art and activism; Tinkebell is her own work of art. Everything she encounters on her life path can become part of her story. Filmmaker Judith de Leeuw was given access to all images about Tinkebell, including her entire private archive. She thus constructed an archive film about how as a human being, living on the ruins of the past, you can be a character in your own story. What is the price you can afford if you continue to believe at any cost?

Three Identical Strangers

New York, 1980. Three complete strangers accidentally discover that they're identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.

Twinsters

Adopted from South Korea, raised on different continents & connected through social media, Samantha & Anaïs believe that they are twin sisters separated at birth.

The Castle

Having worked as a housekeeper all her life, Justina inherits from her former employer a mansion in the middle of the Argentinian pampas. Under one condition: she must never leave. In this modern fairy tale, Justina and her daughter Alexia will face the challenges of keeping that promise alive.

Duutsers

How was the Second World War experienced in Rouveen, Overijssel? This Orthodox Christian village near Staphorst was self-sufficient during the war. And largely isolated from the outside world. The last eyewitnesses of the war, the children of that time, are now all very old. In the Duutsers, residents of the Overijssel village of Rouveen talk movingly openly about their war memories to fellow villager and filmmaker Geertjan Lassche. Their stories are interspersed with historical video fragments and photos from the past. This is how an honest child's view of growing up in a rural village unfolds. How did the war come to the village? Who is that stranger in the village in front of them, that German? And in what those of other strangers? When does unrest arise, and unrest in fear of hatred? What about the Jewish labor camps in the village and how did they view the Canadian liberators?

Mother's heart

“Job is 2 meters tall and has been my baby for 58 years. I will continue to care for him as long as I can,” says 91-year-old Tineke about her severely disabled adult son. But how long can she keep that up and who needs who: Job Tineke or Tineke Job? A documentary about the limits of motherhood.

A Quiet Girl

Adopted Montreal filmmaker Adrian Wills discovers, on camera and in real time, the startling truths of his complex beginnings in Newfoundland. Shocking details drive Wills to the core of his birth mother’s resilience, and ultimately his own. In this moving feature documentary that combines 16mm footage and contemporary images with deeply personal conversations, Wills’ voyage transforms from an urgent search for identity into a quest to give a quiet girl her voice.

Twin Sisters

In 2003, the infant Chinese twin sisters Mia and Alexandra were found in a cardboard box. They ended up in an orphanage and were put up for adoption, at which time the authorities apparently decided that it was a good idea to separate them, and to keep silent about the fact that they were twins. Twin Sisters tells their story from the perspective of both sets of adoptive parents: one from Sacramento, California, the other from a tiny village in picturesque Norway. Through a series of coincidences that they later attribute to fate, the parents meet each other during the adoption procedure in China and launch an investigation that reveals the little girls are sisters.

K-Number

Mioka, a Korean-American adoptee, has attempted to find her birth family multiple times but failed. During her journey, she discovers ‘Banet,‘ a group of Korean women who help adoptees find and reunite with their birth families. Banet supports Mioka in finding her family based on her adoption documents, and as the journey goes on, they figure out that there is a chance that the documents were fabricated.

Village without school

Griendtsveen, a picturesque village in the Peel on the border between Limburg and Brabant, is in danger of losing its primary school De Driehoek. The school, which has been the beating heart of the village for years, is about to close its doors. Documentary maker Ellis Smulders follows the teachers and parents who are determined to keep their school, if necessary by forming the school board themselves. Will they succeed in preserving the core of the close-knit village community, and thus the soul of the village?

Adoption International: A Global Scandal

In the collective imagination, international adoption evokes images of children being saved from a life of destitution in poorer countries by being adopted by families in Europe or America. But the reality that has emerged is one of child trafficking, falsified documents and governments around the world turning a blind eye.

MUM Misunderstandings of Miscarriage

At age 31, after experiencing her second miscarriage, Tahyna MacManus was devastated, lost, angry and, despite those around her, felt terribly alone. She picked up a camera and started to record her story and in doing so found her tribe. Resilient, courageous women speaking of their sadness, their shame and their guilt while still holding onto hope. Tahyna discovers that 1 in 4 Australian women experience miscarriage so why aren’t we talking about it? In this highly intimate journey, Tahyna is on a mission to lift the lid on all that shame, provide some answers and make sure that women no longer walk this path alone. But first, she has to face her own fears.

Mein fremdes Land

A Bolivian by birth, who grew up with adoptive parents in the Swabian town of Mössingen, is looking for his family in the mountains of Potosí. Out of poverty, his mother gave the little boy away when he was just a few months old. The search carries a story that goes far beyond personal fate. Because Manuel was born in a region known for the ruthless exploitation of silver. It's a film about identity, homeland and equal opportunities.

The UFO's of Soesterberg

In the early morning of February 3, 1979, a giant black triangular object flew over Soesterberg Air Base. At least twelve soldiers witnessed this bizarre spectacle.

De verkrotte droom

What if your house is no longer a home, but a bureaucratic nightmare? The residents of the Van der Pekbuurt in Amsterdam are fighting for a fair and sustainable renovation of their beloved working-class neighborhood. The houses are creaking and creaking, mold is rampant and it is almost impossible for the residents to get anything done when maintenance is in arrears. Cost savings are given priority, which is why the renovation plans are increasingly being stripped down. Will the Van der Pekkers succeed in enforcing a fair and sustainable renovation?

Endless Bullying: The Story of Maryana

Maryana came to the conclusion that she no longer wanted to live because the bullying became unbearable. Based on stories from her family, teachers, friends and classmates, we get an idea of ​​who Maryana was and what kept her busy. All relatives have the same message: let's learn from this and ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

Teekay The Salto King

Rapper and breakdancer Teekay from Eindhoven is known for his somersaults and vlogs that are causing a stir. During the corona riots in 2021, he not only gained national fame as a vlog reporter, but also ended up briefly in jail. After his junior year, Teekay wants to change course and, above all, be an example for other young people. In the film he takes us into his life and talks about his childhood in foster homes, the mistakes he made and about his dreams. What is Teekay looking for?

Mirror of Holland

In this short film Bert Haanstra gives his vision - from the water – of a tranquil Holland. During filming he held the camera upside down and afterwards put the images ‘up right’ again in the film. By doing this, we see the ‘usual’ waterfront, but transformed by the rippling of the water. In this way Mirror of Holland became a modern looking experimental film. However this did not devalue the Dutch sentiment regarding waterfronts that are so trusted to so many.

Punks

The parents are at their wits’ end, so a temporary supervision order is the last hope for a group of teenagers in Punks. Now, on a remote farm in France, they’re going to have to get their lives back on track, with the help of a counselor. If they want any chance of a happy life, they need to engage in some frank and painful conversations. Mitchel has to find a way to get along with his father, but maybe too much has already happened since his mother died. Jahlano is already at the next stage: he’s no longer allowed to live with his mother, and needs to get over the disappointment. Mike, meanwhile, is struggling with his image as a boy who’s “got a screw loose.” Filmed in constant close-up by director Maasja Ooms, the teenagers try to tame their demons with music and therapy, but problems from the past keep resurfacing. In this intimate and sincere portrait, these troubled kids show us their most vulnerable sides.

My Flesh and Blood

My Flesh and Blood is a 2003 documentary film by Jonathan Karsh chronicling a year in the life of the Tom family. The Tom family is notable as the mother, Susan, adopted eleven children, most of whom had serious disabilities or diseases. The film itself is notable for handling the sensitive subject matter in an unsentimental way that is more uplifting than one might expect.

Meet Me On The Bridge

Kati Pohler was abandoned in a market in China when she was three days old. Her parents left a note saying they would meet her on a famous bridge 10 or 20 years later. When the time arrived, it became a huge story in China, but Kati was living in America and had no idea. This is how she finally met her biological family.

Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

During the pandemic, living under an extreme right-wing government, filmmakers Bel Bechara and Sandro Serpa receive the news that would change their lives: there was a baby to be adopted.

Gideon: Searching for truth

'Gideon: Searching for the truth' takes the viewer with Van Meijeren on his quest for answers to questions about the current global health crisis. Questions that are common among the population, but to which he, and therefore the people in the country, do not get an answer in the Dutch House of Representatives. A place where Van Meijeren says he often feels like 'crying in the desert'. Where he gets no answers to his 'justifiably pressing' questions. Where instead he is invariably framed and judged by form, which makes any form of democratic debate impossible in advance.

The Rembrandt Century: How Art Became Big Business

In the 17th century, the Netherlands experienced an unprecedented artistic explosion: painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals were so prolific that they were able to make a living from their talent alone; so much so that, within a prosperous society, thanks to wealth from overseas colonies and financial speculation, collecting works of art became a status symbol.

Rietveld Houses: A piece of furniture to live in

In 2024, the iconic Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Gerrit Rietveld designed and built the house in close collaboration with his secret lover and creative partner Truus Schröder. Rietveld himself did not build his houses for eternity; he thought a life cycle of 50 years was sufficient. But the current owners of houses designed by Rietveld think differently about this. They pull out all the stops to renovate and preserve their Rietveld houses.

My new friends from ward three

Frans Bromet ends up in the Reade rehabilitation clinic in Amsterdam after a brain haemorrhage. He soon picks up his camera and films his roommates and healthcare staff. Frans discovers how important intensive guidance is. But the bond with his fellow sufferers is also greater than expected. When he hears of upcoming budget cuts, his concerns grow about the future of the institution and therefore also about the rehabilitation process of the clients.

Eindeloos Gepest - Het Verhaal van Nora, Tren en Anne-Ruth

Three young people look back on their plague past and the dark valley in which they ended up. They dare to talk openly about how they found the resilience to turn their lives around.