Director
The Photograph is a sweeping exploration of the power of positive imaging of black identity in Harlem, New York City. The picture of his grandfather, made hundred years ago by now renowned African-American photographer James Van Der Zee, leads the filmmaker back to Harlem, where he explores the visibility of the residents of this New York borough.
Director
Documentary about asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Producer
What happens in your childhood defines your life, according to artist Armando. His childhood was defined by one crucial incident; a boy kills a German soldier in the woods during the Second World War. The story recurs in Armando’s work in many forms.: an ill-fated event, a victim that becomes a perpetrator, a guilty forest that witnessed everything but remains silent. Was Armando involved in the fateful event or did he invent a tragedy of mythological proportions? Filmmakers Sjors Swierstra and Roelof Jan Minneboo go in search of answers.
Producer
Director
A fascinating documentary about Piet Zwart (1885–1977), an idiosyncratic and stubborn designer, who lived for innovation and prepared the way for the international success that is now known as Dutch Design. Piet Zwart worked as an interior and industrial designer, commercial typographer, photographer, critic and lecturer, playing a key role in defining the design climate in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century. He is especially known for designing the famous ‘Piet Zwart’ kitchen for the Dutch company Bruynzeel: a kitchen that could be easily produced and consisted of standardized elements. His versatility and influence on present-day designers led the Association of Dutch Designers to award him the title of “Designer of the Century” in 2000.
Producer
Italian singing trio, Trio Lescano, three sisters singing in the close harmony style of the Andrews Sisters, rise to great popularity before World War II, but are detained in 1943 by Italian authorities since they are Jewish.
Producer
A portrait of Naples and its inhabitants, in the words of the Neapolitans themselves. Two women gossip about a woman who committed suicide; a man sells tickets for a local tombola; a woman concerns herself about her elderly neighbour. By moving from person to person, the documentary gradually portrays this enigmatic city at the foot of the Vesuvius. James Baldwin once returned a writing assignment about Naples, because he utterly failed to grasp the city. A Neapolitan says: `Naples is a kaleidoscope of thousands of different souls. Their total defines the Soul of Naples.' The leitmotif is Caravaggio's painting Seven Works of Mercy (1607), made for an aristocratic charity that still exists. The documentary mirrors Caravaggio's clair-obscure in its patterns of poverty and wealth. Age-old alleys with subdued light contrast with the glittering chic of a genteel club. Slow aerial shots and poetic texts in voice-over interweave the separate stories.
Producer
Eva is not getting any younger, but has a good job, a beautiful house and nice friends. When she turns 35, her friends give her the only thing preventing her from being perfectly happy: a man. When the whirl of the birthday party is over, it turns out that she, despite the fact that her fondest wish seems to be fulfilled, does not really know what to do with the present.
Director
In his own lifetime, the works of Jan Schoonhoven (Delft, 1914 -1994) were compared to those of Swiss painter Paul Klee and Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan. The symmetric and yet mysterious white reliefs made out of carton and papier maché by the artist, are now auctioned for large sums at Sothebys's and Christie's. Jan Schoonhoven himself however lived a sober and modest life as state postal official no. 18977. Who was this man? During research the filmmakers found out that an important commissioned art work had disappeared from its wall at the Post Office in Delft. In the film his friend, artist Jan Henderikse sets out to find the lost work. An image of Schoonhoven's life, his mysterious character and the meaning of his art work starts to reveal itself.
Director
