NLWave25

In the heart of the West Bank, Manar and Milad, a couple bound by a shared dream to break the cycle of violence that has impacted generations of Palestinian lives, founded the House of Hope – an elementary school that embraces non-violence, and supports children in healing from trauma caused by decades-long occupation. “We began this film way before the most recent escalations,” Dutch producer Ruby Deelen (100%) tells BDE. “At that time, the feedback from the industry (broadcasters and others) was that there was little appetite for stories from this region. That perception has changed dramatically since.”

The first edition of NLWave kicks off Sept 24, offering a selection of international execs and festival programmers an exclusive first look at the latest cinematic output from the Netherlands. In terms of documentary, eight projects either at early stage or as works-in-progress, will be presented. Additionally, three recently completed feature docs will be screened. Docmakers in the frame include IDFA winners Luuk Bouwman and Tom Fassaert, as well as powerhouse production houses such as Submarine, Baldr Film, 100% and Mint Film Office.

Produced by prolific Dutch outfit BALDR Film, and set against a backdrop of new hostilities in Afghanistan, the artistic feature doc Paikar sees Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Dawood Hilmandi return to his homeland to challenge his authoritarian father on why life had to be so violent and tortuous when he and his siblings were growing up. “For a child, your father is supposed to be your first hero, right?” Hilmandi reasons to BDE. “But imagine your hero is damaged and you never understood why he is like that, then you feel exhausted throughout your whole life.”

In his new documentary, Tom Fassaert returns to the subject of his family, this time the strained but fascinating relationship between his father Rob and uncle Rene, two men who seem to be polar opposites. “They can’t live without each other and yet when they’re together….” Fassaert sighs as he reflects on the odd couple dynamic between the brothers. “The bittersweet taste - that is what made me make this film.”

When Jona Honer first visited China, he soon worked out that the easiest way to connect with the young and extremely affluent sub-strata of Chinese society was through their favourite nightclubs. He was also fascinated by the rituals of capitalism, which resembled more a religion in terms of its structure and the social support it offered. “They [the club goers] create their own symbols, maybe without knowing it consciously,” Honer tells BDE. “Every religion has its own symbols. They create their own value system…it’s more than a night out.”

For most of us, the Moon is the beautiful heavenly body that illuminates the night sky, but for Big Industry it is hot property, a place to be colonised for its assets. “Our film about the Moon turned out to be a mirror for what is happening on Earth,” co-director Luuk Bouwman tells Business Doc Europe. “It digs into bigger themes like power and ownership, trust and distrust, distribution of resources, the commons and the private. That makes it a universal story relevant for international audiences.”

“We are out to make an eclectic, kaleidoscopic film that positions itself as a documentary, an essay film, a fictitious reconstruction of memories, with several animations to serve as the glue keeping it all together,” Valk tells BDE of his fully funded project, which will be ready for delivery in May 2026. After losing irreplaceable moments stored on a hard disk, filmmaker Robert-Jonathan Koeyers returns with his family members to the locations they visited in 2018 to fill in the collective gaps in their lives and memories.