Barbara den Uyl

"That's life, it can’t be helped", says Kees Hin, one of Holland’s most idiosyncratic filmmakers, who regards the world as a stage. Starting with shoes from the war and countless reels of film, he discusses his motivations with Barbara den Uyl. For him, film is primarily an attempt to get to know people.

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Jaap Pieters passionately takes photographs and films, mainly on Super8, of the world around him: vagabonds, drunkards, striking incidence of light, the beauty of decay. In this way he has built up an oeuvre that is appreciated by a small group of film lovers all over the world. In his house, he keeps thousands of negatives and films that have never been developed due to chronic lack of money. He also collects anything in which he sees a glimmer, such as bags of sugar from restaurants where he once had ice cream with his parents, books, records, CDs, vases, glasses, be they broken or not. His girlfriend, with whom he has tried in vain to live together for 26 years, comes to helping create some order in the chaos. With his favourite uncle, the poet H.H. ter Balkt, he reminisces. ‘Two autists together’, but above all Jaap continues to film: now elderly men with whom he feels some bond.

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'I can't remember the day my dreams started, but I know when my nightmares did.' These are the words of Rodaan Al Galidi, writer, poet, asylum seeker. Years ago, he fled his native Iraq and got locked up for years in various Dutch refugee centres. When his request for asylum is turned down, he goes into hiding in a student room. He keeps poems there that he wrote in Iraq and new, Dutch texts for which he has meanwhile won several awards. Rodaan turns out to be both a charming and melancholy man. He candidly talks about his life, his inspirations and passions.

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Two generations of Moroccan female vocalists meet in a masterclass in Amsterdam. The first generation is represented by Najat Aatabou, a famous star throughout the Arab world and a strikingly emancipated woman. The second generation is represented by four Dutch singers of Moroccan origins. They are young and talented, but all of them have problems gaining recognition and with their own identity. In the first instance, the confrontation with Najat Aatabou only seems to increase their struggle; yet this initial encounter is followed by a liberating happy ending. Najat Aatabou ran away from home so she could become a singer. How far is her life story repeated among young Moroccan/Dutch vocalists? How difficult is it to live between two cultures? Does music help encourage emancipation? In this swinging film, the film maker seeks answers to these questions.

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Partially staged documentary by Barbara den Uyl investigates the case of Hans Kok, the squatter who was found dead in an Amsterdam police cell in October 1985.

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Once, the Staatsliedenbuurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam was an autonomous state for squatters, punks and the original inhabitants who united in the 'Woongroep Staatsliedenbuurt'. The city council's authority had eroded to virtually nothing after years of failing housing policy. The neighbourhood took matters into its own hands, which became painfully apparent when Amsterdam's mayor Van Thijn was roughly kicked out of the area at the close of 1984.

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A film about the way of life of young people in a squatted and barricaded building, the confrontations with the state for the preservation of the building, the differences of opinion within the squatting movement on strategic and tactical issues, the political pressure from the House of Representatives and the government, and the actions of the authorities, including riot police, tanks, and mass arrests.

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A nuanced portrait of the (Amsterdam) police which portrays not only the police as an institution, but also individual officers. Issues raised include: ethnic profiling, lack of influence by neighbourhood officers, the role of women within the police force and the question of whether the police sometimes use excessive force, for example during the clearance of squats by the ME (Riot Police) in Amsterdam’s Kinkerbuurt neighbourhood, where defenceless locals were beaten by officers with batons.

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"That's life, it can’t be helped", says Kees Hin, one of Holland’s most idiosyncratic filmmakers, who regards the world as a stage. Starting with shoes from the war and countless reels of film, he discusses his motivations with Barbara den Uyl. For him, film is primarily an attempt to get to know people.

Open details →

Partially staged documentary by Barbara den Uyl investigates the case of Hans Kok, the squatter who was found dead in an Amsterdam police cell in October 1985.

Open details →

A film about the way of life of young people in a squatted and barricaded building, the confrontations with the state for the preservation of the building, the differences of opinion within the squatting movement on strategic and tactical issues, the political pressure from the House of Representatives and the government, and the actions of the authorities, including riot police, tanks, and mass arrests.

Open details →