Maarten Schmidt

Following the deaths of his father and many others from his village, filmmaker Daniel Lambo sets off on a passionate quest to find the truth about the deadly asbestos industry. His search takes him to the largest asbestos waste dump in India and unveils a cold-blooded industry still endangering the lives of workers and consumers around the world. A gripping story on the fight of individuals against a booming asbestos industry.

Yaren’s mother died four years ago. This summer she is excited to go to a special camp: a bereavement camp. All the children here have lost someone close to them. In five beautiful and intense days, Yaren and the other kids deal with what unites them all: their pain. A film about loss, healing and friendship.

Jip (11 years old) is in love for the first time. His little sister Fien (9 years old) wants to know everything about it. She is curious, but also a little jealous. Will this newly arrived romance break their inseperable bond? And isn’t it kind of weird that Jip’s sweetheart is also called Fien?

Warren and the Three Willows takes us into a fantastical macroscopic world, where we come face to face with the threats that nature struggles with. What can we do together to help nature? Through an intimate family portrait, with imaginative touches, we address a global theme on a child's scale.

Michael Dudok de Wit was asked by the famous Japanese animation studio Ghibli, to create his first feature length animated film. This would be Ghibli's first international co-production ever. Maarten Schmidt and Thomas Doebele followed Dudok de Wit and his team during the complex creative process for over two years. He is a perfectionist that is used to making his own hand drawn animated films by himself. For this new and timely production, he was assisted by a team of 20 to 30 artists from all over Europe.