Advanced search

A gang of Afghan kids from the Kuchi tribe dig out old Soviet mines and sell the explosives to children working in a lapis lazuli mine. When not dreaming of the time when American troops finally withdraw from their land, another gang of children keeps tight control on the caravans smuggling the blue gemstones through the arid mountains of Pamir.

After many years away Cristina returns to her family home in small Romanian village, but see isn't welcomed with open arms.

About the young, Dutch-Turkish singer Karsu Dönmez, who was discovered playing piano in her parents' Turkish restaurant.

The 1986 film version of the theatrical production "Dead End Kids" by the NYC avant-garde theatre group The Mabou Mines which premiered on November 11, 1980, and was presented by Joseph Papp at The Public Theater, NYC.

In this television program the Amsterdam Ruijmgaart-Tokkie family is followed. They were frequently in the news in 2003 after a neighborly quarrel with the result that even apartments in the Burgemeester van Leeuwenlaan caught fire.

The incomparable splendor of Naples, situated in the shadow of a volcano and by the blue sea of an enormous bay, inspired Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to the famous statement: "See Naples and die". But Naples also has a more complex side. Behind the splendor and pomp that dates from the time when Naples still had great political and social influence, one can also find poverty and adversity. The film director Vincent Monnikendam ends in the backstreets and steep alleyways where sunlight barely penetrates, where dark drama and frivolity keep the age-old city in their grip. The central feature of the film is the painting The Seven Acts of Mercy by Caravaggio, the master of the clair-obscur. This altar piece was painted in 1607, commissioned by the noble founders of the Pio Monte della Misericordia, a charitable institution that is still active. Myths about this painting, the history of the Pio Monte, the joy and sorrow of Neapolitans, alternate and combine to form a colourful portrait. With a leading role for the city of Naples itself. Among the important characters in Souls of Naples are Pietro Gargano, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Il Mattino and a connoisseur of urban history, and Gian Paolo Leonetti, former chairman of the Pio Monte della Misericordia and a descendant of a noble family. The baroque interior of the villa where we meet contrasts with the sober entourage of the inner city. This is where the transsexual Gianni earns a meagre income by selling lottery tickets and Pina tells us about her difficult existence while she sews trendy handbags in a small factory located in an old cellar. The Russian painter Natalia Tsarkova tries to communicate in her own work the essence of clair-obscur in the paintings by Caravaggio whom she so admires. According to her, the special lighting effects with powerful contrasts so characteristic of his work are the symbol of survival, for good and evil, for life and death. In a style inspired by these characteristic light-dark contrasts Souls of Naples provides an inspiring portrait of a city that has survived for two and half thousand years.

An exploration of non-violence as the means to achieving social reforms, focusing on the downfall of Pinochet in Chile, the Palestinian Intifada, and Cory Aquino's "people power" revolution in the Philippines.

LAST HIJACK is a true tale of survival in Somalia told from the pirate's perspective. Combining animation with documentary storytelling, the film takes an innovative hybrid approach to explore how one Somali pirate - Mohamed - came to live such a brutal and dangerous existence. Animated re-enactments exploring Mohamed's memories, dreams and fears from his point of view are juxtaposed with raw footage from his everyday life in an original non-fiction narrative. Somalia is the worldwide capital of piracy, and Mohamed is one of Somalia's most experienced pirates. But in his homeland, a failed state, Mohamed is just another middle-aged man trying to make ends meet. Far removed from the glamour and adventure of the pirates of books and movies, Somali pirates face increasing scrutiny and stigmatization both at home and abroad. Now Mohamed is engaged and both his parents and his in-laws pressure him to change his ways before the big wedding day. Mohamed senses that the golden age of piracy may be coming to an end, and with pressure mounting to provide for his loved ones, he must decide whether to risk everything for one last hijack.

About a new class of "poor whites" in South Africa.

Because Micky is not doing well at school, her father has to visit her class teacher for a meeting. She is especially not good at language, she prefers to sit in the storage room and put things together. She is therefore assigned to write an essay. Her story should be entitled 'Triumph of technology'. Her father decides to help Micky by showing her all kinds of important inventions, starting with the wheel. Then it turns out that Micky hasn't been wasting her time in the storage shed. She invented a moving box, a wooden box with just enough room for two people.

A portrait of the occupants of the Peperklip in Rotterdam, a huge apartment block that, seen from above, looks like a paperclip. The residents in the film are all waiting for their lives to take a turn. Waiting for another house, returning health, a work permit for Australia or the right to see a son.

In this documentary we see three very different people's exceptional report of what they experienced in the no-man's land between life and death.

For 50 years now Robert Groden has tried to find the truth about who killed President John F. Kennedy. In his private life, as a father and husband, Robert's obsessive quest for truth has come at a high price.

De Dijk has toured the Netherlands for almost 30 years. From Nijeveen to Bergen op Zoom, from Weert to Broek op Langedijk. In almost unchanged composition, this band has been able to bind an ever-wider audience. They grew up together and made each other better by working together in a unique way. While for the outside world Huub van der Lubbe is the face of the band, the band is mainly a collective inside: everything is jointly decided. The documentary shows the year in which they release their first international album Hold on Tight and which would be crowned with a performance with Solomon Burke in Paradiso. It is different - the morning of his arrival in Amsterdam, Solomon Burke dies at Schiphol. De Dijk is devastated: they lose a friend, but also a possible international dream is shattered.

Daan is used to stand in front of a camera. Growing up, it was his father's camera, world-renowned photographer and filmmaker Ed van der Elsken. Now it's the camera of his good friend, Joris Postema. Together with him Daan tries to get control of his life by confronting his father posthumously. Daan believes his father - who he takes after more than he'd like - is mostly to blame for his mental problems. By means of photos, film footage and meetings with family members and friends, Daan tries to fathom what his father has passed on to him and he makes a surprising discovery.

Haagse Sjonnie is a documentary about Sjonnie, who lives with his wife and their children in the Dutch city of The Hague. Sjonnie is a true 'Hagenees', with a thick accent and a real passion for the local soccerclub: ADO Den Haag. Sjonnie wants to start a business for himself but quikly runs into trouble with the authorities about his business and the way he is living.

"If you will it, it is no dream" wrote the founder of political Zionism Theodor Herzl in 1902, prophesizing the creation of a utopian Jewish state. One hundred years later, some of the harshest critics of Israel's occupation policies are Israelis themselves # a small minority of intellectuals, political activists and artists whose voices are rarely heard outside Israel. Shortly before the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian War in March 2002, filmmakers Benny Brunner and Joseph Rochlitz traveled through the country and spoke to a number of them: Meir Shalev - one of Israel's best-known writers, Gideon Levy - columnist for Haaretz newspaper, Jessica Montell - Director of B'Tselem (Israeli Human Rights Center), Yehudit Katzir # writer, Yizhar Be'er # Director of the Israeli Center for Democracy, Adi Ophir # Professor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University, Noa Levy # leader of the High School students "refusal-to-serve" movement and Yitzhak La'or - writer and poet. The filmmakers also attended a major peace rally in Tel Aviv, and recorded the fiery words of Yishai Rosen-Tzvi, one of the first to sign the Letter of Refusal to serve in the Occupied Territories. Readily admitting that their point of view is a minority one and that most of the Israeli public is behind the army and government, they illustrate one Israeli perspective on the causes of and solutions to the continuing bloodshed which is seldom covered by the international media.

On July 12, 1995 the U.N. designated Safe Area of Srebrenica fell to the Bosnian Serbs. Eight thousand residents are missing - presumed killed - in perhaps the most atrocious war crime committed since World War II. The Serbian Army Commander Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic have been charged by the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. But this documentary investigates the possibility of complicity - knowing or not - by the commanders of the United Nations forces in Bosnia.