Melle van Essen

An elegiac documentary following virtuosic clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh, a Damascus-born musician living in exile, as he attempts to find meaning and purpose after the outbreak of war in Syria. A profound exploration of the role art can play in forging identity and community.

Two teen track stars discover first love as they train for the biggest relay race of their young lives.

Set in the remote winter landscape of Norway, Roos visits her mother there yearly, but this time it’s different: she brings bad news. However, old pain and numerous reproaches keep Roos from sharing anything with her mother. Aided by her half-brother and her old flame, the two women reconcile and Roos is able to make her next and inescapable step.

By the year 2000, half of all young people in Amsterdam will be of immigrant origin. The government aims to promote integration requiring that 70 percent of newly hired employees of the Municipality of Amsterdam be either of immigrant background or women. Mene Tekel examines the consequences of this policy within the Amsterdam Fire Brigade. Without using interviews, and instead relying on observation and a narrative structure resembling a feature film, the documentary shows how the policy affects recruitment and training. Sons from long-established firefighting families are no longer automatically eligible for a position. Meanwhile, newcomers of immigrant background often find themselves entering the fire brigade almost as a result of well-intentioned efforts by social support agencies. Once there, they undergo extensive testing and initiation, because when the alarm sounds they may be confronted with death, and firefighters must be able to trust one another completely.

On the idyllic island of Lipari near Sicily a few traditional swordfish hunters are still active. The days are over where these fishermen were self-evidently succeeded by their sons. On board Nino’s ship, the reigning peace is not what it appears to be. The twelve-man crew that mans the small boat is in complete concentration. They peer at the water surface, looking for their prey. While the diesel engine stamps monotonously, the hours pass and we wait patiently. Then an excited noise erupts from the crow’s nest: a swordfish couple has been spotted! Lipari pays homage to an almost extinct profession.

A sturdy flight attendant has to deliver a child in mid-air and gets involved in a confusing mother/lover relationship with a boy who's living under the streets of Bucharest.

The film tells the tale of Iala, whose authority over his two sons, Raul and Bedan, is shaken. Raul has left to study in a seminary in the big city, where unknown to anyone, he has joined the liberation movement. Meanwhile, younger son, Bedan is rebelling against every possible tradition, even eyeing his father's young bride-to-be.

The full title of this Dutch film is Pervola: Tracks in the Snow. A stockbroker moves away from his home village of Pervola and puts his two sons in charge of his business. Older brother Hein (Bram van der Vlugt) cheats younger brother Simon (Gerard Thoolen) out of his share, claiming that Simon was disinherited because he is homosexual. Hein grows powerful, while Simon seems to weaken with each passing day. Flash-forward several years: the dying stockbroker calls his sons to his side. Faithful Simon agrees to dad's wishes that he be buried in Pervola, but Hein doesn't want to go to the trouble of transporting the body; he finally agrees to help Simon, out of fear that his brother will learn of his long-ago treachery. While arduously journeying to Pervola with the father's body strapped to a sled, Hein inadvertently confesses; Simon, however, is of strong enough moral fibre to forgive his brother.