The second edition of NLWave presents a curated selection of 35 Dutch projects, ranging from early‑stage projects to works in progress, to an international group of festival programmers, sales agents and distributors. Fourteen of these are documentary projects, of which two are first-time pitches and twelve are WIPs. The showcase runs from 30 September to 2 October in Utrecht, where it coincides with the closing of the Netherlands Film Festival.
This year, NLWave presents a strong selection of documentary projects from both emerging and established talent, including the likes of Suzanne Raes (Where Dragons Live, 2024, and Close to Vermeer, 2023), Aliona van der Horst (Boris Ryzhy, 2008, and Turn Your Body to the Sun, 2021), Tom Fassaert (A Family Affair, 2015, and Between Brothers, 2026), Renzo Martens (White Cube, 2020, and Episode 3: Enjoy Poverty, 2008) and Louis Hothothot, whose Four Journeys opened IDFA in 2021.
“NLWave offers Dutch filmmakers the opportunity to bring their work to the attention of international industry professionals at an early stage and to build and strengthen valuable connections,” organisers underline. Last year’s inaugural edition featured a number of doc titles that received world premieres at such festivals as IFFR (Between Brothers by Tom Fassaert), Visions du Réel (Club Heaven by Jona Honer) and at IDFA (Paikar by Dawood Hilmandi).
NLWave is an initiative of the Netherlands Film Fund, presented in co‑operation with SEE NL.
New documentary pitches
- Kabul, Year Zero by Aboozar Amini. Synopsis: At the age of 10, Afshin zigzagged through a world shadowed by suicide bombings and superpower influence. As a son of a national force, he fled Kabul at 16 when the Taliban seized control, only to discover the elusive illusion of safety in his new land. Alongside Afshin are Shukria, Varja and Fahad, born in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. Their shared experience, burdened by the gravity of war yet fuelled by an unyielding zest for life, weaves a captivating tapestry, beckoning us to witness their existence in a world forged by adult-made conflicts. Producer: Jia Zhao. Production company: Silk Road Film Salon. Co-production partners: Hanne Phlypo (BE), Heejung Oh (KR)
- The Return by Aliona van der Horst (Docmakers). Synopsis: In Berlin exile, Ukrainian couple Mark and Alla’s 45-year marriage comes under ethical pressure when war turns their words into a battleground, forcing them to choose between loyalty, identity and each other. Producer: Ilja Roomans. Production company: Docmakers. Co-producers: Diana El Jeiroudi & Orwa Nyrabia. Production company: Docmakers. Co-production partners: No Nation Films (DE)
- The Woman Who Made Van Gogh Famous by Willemiek Kluijfhout. Synopsis: In 1891, 27-year-old Jo van Gogh-Bonger suddenly finds herself alone: with a newborn child, a deceased husband and a house full of paintings by her brother-in-law Vincent van Gogh, considered virtually worthless. The Woman Who Made Van Gogh Famous, a contemporary film that weaves together archive and imagination, tells the story of Jo’s forgotten but crucial struggle for recognition – for Vincent’s work and for her own place in the male-dominated art world. Producer: Ruby Deelen. Production company: 100% Film. Co-production partners: Corso Film (DE)
Documentary Works in Progress
- The Dawn of the Post Plantation by Renzo Martens. Synopsis: For more than a century, vast palm oil plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo have generated immense wealth for the West while leaving the communities who work the land trapped in poverty. Amid the exhausted plantations of Lusanga, three members of the Congolese Plantation Workers Art League (CATPC) – Ced’art Tamasala, Matthieu Kasiama and Mbuku Kimpala – set out on an extraordinary mission to reclaim what was taken from their people: their land, their history and their future. Production company: Scenery (NL). Producers: Isidoor Roebers & Lea Fels. Co-production partners: Clin D’oeil (BE)
- Idlib by Sakir Khader. Synopsis: 2018. We follow Abdul Basset al-Sarout, his nephew Mohamed and sniper Abu Dhar on the front lines: breakfast is prepared, rifles are taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. When Sarout dies, it is not only the death of a famous revolutionary, it is also the moment Mohamed is thrust into adulthood. As his uncle’s designated successor, his youth is over. Producer: Jeffrey de Roode. Production company: mint film office
- In Your Shadow by Tom Fassaert. Synopsis: When Thabi takes her estranged father on a journey to reconstruct his hidden past as an ANC freedom fighter, she discovers that there is more to his lifelong silence than just his trauma. Together they face an evil dilemma: staying true to the freedom movement or to each other. In Your Shadow is an intimate investigation into the mechanism of silence and an ultimate attempt to find reconciliation. Producer: Renko Douze. Production company: Een van de jongens
- Little Lost Things by Robert-Jonathan Koeyers. Synopsis: After losing irreplaceable moments on a hard disk, the filmmaker returns with his family to the locations they visited to fill in the gaps. Producer: Richard Valk. Production company: Valk Productions.
- Nescio (Titaantjes) by Eugenie Jansen and Albert Elings. Synopsis: Nescio is an essayistic mosaic film that takes the oeuvre of the Dutch writer Nescio (1881-1961) as its guide, interweaving it with contemporary scenes from the daily lives of filmmaking duo Albert Elings and Eugenie Jansen. The film is composed of vignettes that meander like a river overflowing its banks, through which Nescio’s vision resonates within the personal present. Producer: Paul Ruven. Production company: Talent United.
- Paradise Morbid by David-Jan Bronsgeest. Synopsis: Frank van der Meer (63) has died many times, yet refuses to stay buried. Once a king of Amsterdam’s Red Light district, he lived through the city’s underground nightlife, the heroin epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, years of addiction, homelessness, violence and several near-death experiences. Blending documentary, fiction, animation and horror aesthetics, Paradise Morbid travels through Frank’s memories and reconstructs the defining moments of his past. Younger versions of Frank appear as ghosts of memory, forcing him to confront the person he once was and the person he has become. Producer: Tim Koomen. Production company: Bloodrave
- Penjajah (Bad Guys) by Eva van Pelt. Synopsis: Dutch actor Hans has died more times on Indonesian film sets than he can count – shot, stabbed, drowned – always as the villain. Living in Indonesia, he has become the industry’s go-to face for colonial cruelty in a wave of anti-colonial action films that reclaim the country’s fight against Dutch rule. When Hans receives a suitcase containing old family belongings from his sister, he discovers that his deceased father committed atrocities while serving in Indonesia. Suddenly, the colonial villains he portrays no longer feel fictional. He begins questioning what he inherited from his father’s violence and how to break free from it. Producers: Joram Willink, Rosalien Hollestelle. Creative Producer: Esther van Driesum. Production company: BIND
- pink & green by Rory Pilgrim. Synopsis: On the windswept island of Portland, in the English Channel, we follow three people: Amy and Katy, teenage best friends with precarious home-lives and few prospects, drawn toward trouble, and Jake, an inmate inside one of the island’s two prisons, fighting to cope with life behind bars. As the characters face the long shadows of their experiences with the criminal justice system, two mysterious orbs of pink and green grow stronger, creating a portal where voices can meet. In this space, new connections form and the possibility of healing begins to emerge – not only for Amy, Katy and Jake, but for others in the wider community who step forward to offer support. Producer: Danielle Guirguis. Production company: SMARTHOUSE. Co-production partner: Tyke Films (UK)
- Still City (De Verstilde Stad) by Menno Otten. Synopsis: Told through 125 years of archival film, Amsterdam reveals itself through the gesture of its residents. Fleeting glances, half-smiles, the subtle rhythm of a crowd. As faces from different decades appear and vanish, time dissolves and strangers across generations begin to move in step. In an age of division, Still City becomes a cinematic meditation on connection, transforming everyday encounters into a timeless choreography of human life. Producer: Renko Douze. Production company: Een van de jongens. Co-production partners: Visualantics (BE), Box to Box (UK)
- We Had A Plan by Suzanne Raes. Synopsis: After 10 years of working illegally as cleaners in the Netherlands, Paul and Daniel return to the Philippines. Struggling to survive and find their place again, they realise that their future together lies in Amsterdam. Yet achieving that dream will require them to endure an uncertain separation. Will their love be strong enough to overcome the challenges that stand in their way? Producer: Ilja Roomans. Production company: Docmakers. Co-production partners: Daluyong Studios (PH), Svemirko Film Productions (PH)
- What happened to my country, what happened to me? by Myanmar Film Collective (hybrid) Synopsis: Almost six years after the military coup of 2021, Myanmar remains trapped in a brutal civil war. Millions have been displaced, families separated and entire communities destroyed. The filmmakers of the Myanmar Film Collective, once colleagues and friends working in the same country, are now hiding in Myanmar or living in exile in Thailand, Germany and Sweden. Following Myanmar Diaries—winner of the Berlinale Documentary Award in 2022 and 15 other international prizes—the Collective returns with a deeply personal hybrid film about a lost motherland and the longing for an unattainable home. Producer: Corinne van Egeraat. Production company: ZINDOC
- The Year of the Ghost by Louis Hothothot. Synopsis: Following his debut feature Four Journeys(opening film of IDFA 2021), filmmaker Louis Hothothot turns the camera inward, continuing to film his own family. “In 2022, my father died during the pandemic. Forced into a 28-day quarantine upon returning to China, I missed both his death and his funeral. My mother now lives among widows in a rural village, believing my father’s gentle sprit still lingers. While my older sister clings to the idea that marriage might restore what has been broken. Caught between continents, I drift like a wandering sheep, confronted with an impossible question: should I abandon my life in Europe to return home and care for my mother?” Producer: Pieter van Huystee. Production company: Pieter van Huystee Film
