Renko Douze

In this intimate family portrait, documentary filmmaker Tom Fassaert observes the relationship between his father Rob (72) and his older brother René (75). What begins as a tragicomic film about their unusual dynamic – one was a psychologist for many years, the other a psychiatric patient – turns into a moving search for their unknown roots.

Ever since there’s only one male northern white rhino remaining on earth, armed bodyguards protect him, tourists are standing in line to make a selfie with him, journalists rush to Kenya to tell his story and scientists are determined to find ways to reproduce his species. What is so attractive about the threat of extinction? How does this reflect on us?

When the Israeli army invades the Gaza Strip in 2023, Rania is eight months pregnant. She gives birth to triplets just as her hometown in northern Gaza is bombed. One girl dies at birth, while the other two babies, Jowan and her brother Hamoud, are so weak that they have to be placed in an incubator. When the hospital is evacuated, the twins are moved to southern Gaza, where Rania’s sister Nisreen takes over their care. A travel ban prevents the babies from returning to their mother.

Afghan documentary maker Najiba Noori offers not only a loving and intimate portrait of her mother Hawa, but also shows in detail how the arduous improvement of the position of women is undone by geopolitical violence. The film follows the fortunes of Noori’s family, who belong to the Hazaras, an ethnic group that has suffered greatly from discrimination and persecution.

Helena Maksyom’s personal record of the war in Ukraine, filmed over more than a thousand days. When the invasion began, she was a filmmaker with no experience of combat. She volunteered, learned to treat the wounded, learned to fight, and, over time, became an officer leading others through the same fire that first consumed her.

Ready for a new perspective? Ammodo Docs presents artistic shorts about original minds. In 15-minute films, renowned Dutch filmmakers challenge you to see the world through the eyes of pioneers in the arts and sciences. Ammodo Docs. Forward-thinking films.