The second edition of NLWave, the international showcase presenting upcoming Dutch features, documentaries and animation, is to launch NxtWave, comprising four shorts by rising Dutch filmmaking talent.
These include the multi award-winning How to Catch a Butterfly by Kiriko Mechanicus, and Nina Broers’ Student Academy Award-winning Where is my Sex Drive.
“With this new strand, the organisers aim to draw professional attention to Dutch filmmaking voices of tomorrow,” NLWave writes.
How to Catch a Butterfly (doc, 26’) by Dutch/Japanese filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus (prod: Docmakers) world premiered at SXSW, won the Best Short Film/Short Film Grand Prize at Indie Lisboa, and the Best Short Documentary Award at Millennium Docs Against Gravity.
Where is my Sex Drive (experimental 25’), a 3rd year film school presentation by Nina Broers, received the Bronze Placement Student Academy Award in the Alternative/Experimental category this past weekend.
A Shot at Art (fiction, 12’) by Ilke Paddenburg (prod: Studio Ruba) world premiered at Clermont-Ferrand, where it received the International Audience Award. It was also selected for SXSW.
A Tenderness (fiction 17’) by Sabrine Khoury (prod: Buddy Film Productions) premiered at TIFF 2026.
Organised by the Netherlands Film Fund in co‑operation with SeeNL, NLWave is a by‑invitation‑only showcase designed to connect emerging and established filmmakers with international sales agents and festival programmers.
The 2025 pilot edition welcomed around 40 international guests to Utrecht, who spent two days discovering 45 Dutch titles, many of which were documentaries. Both House of Hope by Marjolein Busstra and Paikar by Dawood Hilmandi (Baldr Film, recently selected as the Dutch submission for the International Feature Academy Award) were subsequently selected for IDFA Luminous Competition in 2025. Tom Fassaert presented his feature doc Between Brothers, produced by Een van de jongens, as a world premiere at IFFR 2026. Club Heaven by Jona Honer (produced by Submarine Productions) was later selected for Visions du Réel Burning Lights Competition.
This year’s edition of NLWave features a curated selection of 35 titles, ranging from early‑stage projects to works in progress, and runs 30 September to 2 October in Utrecht.
The full selection of projects and works in progress will be unveiled on 22 September, 2026.
