René Huybrechtse

100UP is a film which investigates the will to live. It portrays a colourful selection of 100+ year old people from all over the world. They have lived for over a century and witnessed great historical events, but instead of dwelling on the past, they look ahead. With the clock inevitably ticking, these centenarians cling to life, set new goals with a joie de vivre, refusing to admit the betrayal of their deteriorating bodies. Time is both their enemy and their friend. They have overcome diseases, lost partners and some of them survived their own children. Nevertheless, these active, curious and creative 100+ year olds are amazingly good at restarting every new day.

This rich essay searches for new ways of being together in the age of social media. We arrange our lives to impress the gaze of others and have become accustomed to being seen. For many young people, however, the party is over. Neoliberalism has made murderous competition the norm; and in the meantime, the planet is dying. Following the unmasking of Facebook’s real motives, more and more people are deleting their Facebook accounts – but this often results in social death. The first image in POSSESSED sets the tone: liquefied lead runs over burning smartphones, followed by images of a devastated neighbourhood in Aleppo. Even the smartphones have not survived the attack. The chains of social media must be cast off, but the perpetual question remains: Who is looking out for you? Academics Alex Williams (University of East Anglia) and Nick Srnicek (King's College London) address this crucial question, along with other issues

Symptoms of influenza mean the last days in the life of the Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) seem to be played out beyond the confines of a set time and space. His stylised portraits come to live and edge him further towards death. Choreographer Stuart has transformed his images into a transparent movement language that by turns follows and ignores the music by Alexander von Zemlinsky. The rawly expressive and confrontational imagery reflects the powerful effect of Schiele’s drawings and paintings.

A thrilling love story between the young boxer Vincent and the German Eva, who soon has to marry with the middle-aged Dirk to save her family. While the war starts in the Netherlands their impossible love inflames. May 14, 1940, the day that the centre of Rotterdam is bombed and the young lovers lose sight of each other.

The bizarre story takes place in Amsterdam-West, where a virus turns people into bloodthirsty zombies. Although much blood is flowing and many limbs chopped off, there is a lot to laugh at in this bizarre horror comedy.

Two friends loiter on a square, with their mopeds. Loitering youngsters, moped girls: in any case, there is no sign of parents or school. The girls laugh, are silent and quarrel, joke about `nice tits', flirt with a Moroccan boy (and call him a fucking fundamentalist when he walks off with another girl). In between, they ride their mopeds. A loosely acted draft of two young lives.

In this short science-fiction film, two men are far away from home. Ray and Brad alleviate their homesickness by watching home movies that were shot from their perspective. By means of virtual reality goggles, Ray sees his wife and children play on the beach.

Abdullah 'Ap' Bentarek is happy that, unlike his Uncle Yusuf who stayed in the ancestral Moroccan mountain village, his father Ali moved to the Netherlands – even though it does mean that he’ll have to deal with lousy friends and unrealistic expectations at the employment office. A light-hearted portrait of the immigrant experience and the ubiquitous intolerance of the unfamiliar in Dutch society.

One warm summer night, in a working-class area of a big city, a group of teenagers sits on a square. Jill, a teen girl, undergoes her first sexual experience as an everyday banality.

The hesitation of a couple in love about whether or not to make love leads to an unfortunate coincidence of events.

A cat burglar with a case of diarrhea heads for the head, bag of swag in hand, and triggers a silent alarm. The security company calls one resident, who begins his hunt for the intruder; two other residents are also alerted by the sounds of flatulence, so they too are on the hunt, one armed with a gun, one with a golf club. A noisy toilet-roll holder adds to the burglar's problems.

Incredible optical illusions in a story in a story in a story helps the surprised viewer finally to find out that he has been watching himself all along.