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

VPRO icon Wim Brands died on April 4, 2016. He was known to the general public as a presenter of the VPRO Boeken program and also closer, with six collections of poetry to his name. This documentary about his life and work, built entirely from archive material, pays tribute to this television personality. A portrait in which attention is also paid to his complicated relationship with death. With a.o. Karl Ove Knausgård, David Sedaris, Ellen Deckwitz and Pieter Boskma. Brands' work merges with his rich inner life and that he chose death at the age of 56 casts a shadow over everything.

February 8, 2024 will mark ten years since Els Borst was murdered. This documentary highlights the remarkable career and life of the former Minister of Health, based on conversations with people who knew her well. It shows Borst's personal side and her impressive contribution to Dutch society. In addition to the successful cases, what were they encountering? How did Borst deal with political opposition? What did this do to her personally? The documentary provides a tangible image of Els Borst as a politician and a person, with attention to her legacy and the tragic end of her life.

The Survivors of the WW2 Battle of Arnhem tell their stories of the brutal and exhausting conflict.

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.

For months, the FBI have been investigating Russian interference in the American presidential elections. ZEMBLA is investigating another explosive dossier concerning Trump’s involvement with the Russians: Trump’s business and personal ties to oligarchs from the former Soviet Union. Powerful billionaires suspected of money laundering and fraud, and of having contacts in Moscow and with the mafia. What do these relationships say about Trump and why does he deny them? How compromising are these dubious business relationships for the 45th president of the United States? And are there connections with the Netherlands? ZEMBLA meets with one of Trump’s controversial cronies and speaks with a former CIA agent, fraud investigators, attorneys, and an American senator among others.

Six California kids test their brains and talents against students in Odyssey of the Mind, a problem-solving competition requiring mechanical, creative and intellectual skills. With little money and zero adult participation, the teens build a robot to tell a story about bullying, exclusion and mental health. But how does their solution measure up?

El silencio roto

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

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?

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?

Swingtij (Blue Notes & Higher Grounds)

First there was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, then ‘My Brilliant Career’, and now best of all ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It is incomparably moving and powerful.

Follows the lives of 6 adults with a disability in a care center. Over a year's time, each of them share their view of the world and how they cope with moods and looks.

Currently, purchasing cannabis is done through 'the back door'. What is sold legally is purchased illegally. The end of 2019 marked the start of a four-year experiment in which cannabis grown under state supervision is legally traded. This should lead to less crime and better quality weed with fewer harmful substances. After a strict selection procedure, ten growers are selected who can supply this government weed. Bromet follows seasoned grower John - who wanted to run his nursery as legally and transparently as possible, but still lost everything after a lawsuit - and the businessmen of plan C who want to grow cannabis for the first time. Bromet also interviews coffee shop owners, politicians involved and both supporters and opponents. A follow-up documentary was made in 2024.

Frans Bromet follows several cannabis growers who have been selected by lottery as the first suppliers of legal cannabis. Sequel to the 2021 documentary 'Legal Weed'. Ten growers have been selected by draw as the first legal cannabis growers for an experiment that would last four years. These are large companies where a lot of money is spent to enable large-scale production of cannabis. But the actual experiment still hasn't been fully rolled out. Only in a few cities is legal cannabis available in coffee shops. The biggest problems that growers and sellers face are supply stocks and the complexity of the track and trace system. Every movement of the weed must be registered. And that is almost impossible with a failing computer system. The future of the experiment remains highly unpredictable four years after its announcement.

This year, over 5 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we've all been affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness. The world we inhabit as adults begins on the playground. The Bully Project opens on the first day of school. For the more than 5 million kids who'll be bullied this year in the United States, it's a day filled with more anxiety and foreboding than excitement. As the sun rises and school busses across the country overflow with backpacks, brass instruments and the rambunctious sounds of raging hormones, this is a ride into the unknown.

What is fatphobia and what can be done to overcome it? With poetic illustrations and painful, compelling testimony, Tales of Ordinary Fatphobia offers multiple examples of the psychological effects of weight-based discrimination and bullying on adolescent girls.

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.

American Reflexxx is a short film documenting a social experiment that took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Alli Coates filmed performance artist Signe Pierce as she strutted down a busy oceanside street in stripper garb and a reflective mask. The pair agreed not to communicate until the experiment was completed, but never anticipated the horror that would unfold in under an hour. The result is a heart wrenching technicolor spectacle that raises questions about gender stereotypes, mob mentality, and violence in America.

25 years ago, when Coos, then 13, was smoking dope with his friends by the side of a canal, he passed out and came to with a Coke bottle up his ass. A joke by his friends. The incident marks his life as it haunts him for years. Why did his friends do that? Coos, now 38, wants to be able to turn this black page in his history, and he does so by confronting his friends of the time with his pain.