Peter Brugman

People who create explore, and get to know themselves and others better. In this cinematographic essay, Rolf Orthel looks for the meaning of creating, with reality or the memory of it as a starting point and a train journey as a meandering ribbon through the film. We see the first musical steps of primary school children and youngsters at Jeugdtheaterschool Zuid-Oost. We see what talent does to you when a conservatory student practices for his graduation, when someone paints a remarkable self-portrait or when Konvooi creates a thrilling play. This is high-level creation which makes you wonder how on earth it is possible that you can suddenly be enchanted and moved. The conclusion of Orthel’s search? Creating things is the best.

Pakistani director Sabiha Sumar and Indian actor Kalki Koechlin take an inspiring and stunning transnational journey through India and Pakistan, uncovering the common humanity beyond the divisive political rhetoric.

Tobias used to be a successful cellist. Following heart failure in 1997, his life took a dramatic turn. He was pronounced clinically dead and brought back to life with jolts of electricity. He was in a coma for several weeks and, when he woke up, he turned out to be physically and mentally handicapped. In this way, at the age of 39, Tobias found himself in a wheelchair and was no longer able to talk as a result of his brain damage. From that moment on, playing the cello was a thing of the past.

Two generations of Moroccan female vocalists meet in a masterclass in Amsterdam. The first generation is represented by Najat Aatabou, a famous star throughout the Arab world and a strikingly emancipated woman. The second generation is represented by four Dutch singers of Moroccan origins. They are young and talented, but all of them have problems gaining recognition and with their own identity. In the first instance, the confrontation with Najat Aatabou only seems to increase their struggle; yet this initial encounter is followed by a liberating happy ending. Najat Aatabou ran away from home so she could become a singer. How far is her life story repeated among young Moroccan/Dutch vocalists? How difficult is it to live between two cultures? Does music help encourage emancipation? In this swinging film, the film maker seeks answers to these questions.

The Red Stuff: The True Story of the Russian Race for Space is a film about the first heroes of the cosmos from those early years of Russian space travel. Who were the people behind these first successes? Unique archival material reveals the bravery and the unsurpassed stamina of the cosmonauts. What is true and what is false in our view of Russian space exploration? How do those involved look back on their work and their enforced role in the Soviet political machine? Now that the military secrecy and national propaganda of the Soviet Union has crumbled, see the real story of the other side of the space race.

Tragicomedy about two brothers who married two sisters, walking the streets of Deventer at night lamenting the fact that each should have married the other one's wife.

A woman and her daughter lives in Oostdijk, a village near Amsterdam. One night when the mother is on her way home, she is killed in a car accident in the street they live in.

The story of a young woman with mental problems told in a non-chronological fashion.