Leonard Retel Helmrich

Every year millions of people look forward to the first preparation of Hollandse Nieuwe, the popular snack of raw herring from the North Sea’s spring catch. But how do you find glory in the grueling pursuit of a once-iconic fish that even the queen no longer accepts as definitively Dutch? Raw Herring celebrates the cultural legacy maintained by Holland’s last great herring fishers even as new trends and foreign competition threaten their way of life.

A hooker is stranded at a bustop, and a man crashes his car next to a phonebooth there. The hooker is attacked by punks, but fends them off; the man is attacked by the phone, and doesn't fare as well.

Using performance to inspire critical reflection, Promised Paradise delivers fascinating and revealing insight into the social and religious undercurrents dominating Indonesian society today and the Muslim world at large.

The Eye of the Day documents the lives of sixty-year-old Rumijah, her two sons Bakti and Dwi, and her friend Ibu Sum. In cinéma vérité fashion, filmmaker Helmrich captures the trials and tribulations of everyday life in 1990s Indonesia. While filming a demonstration in 1995, Helmrich was arrested and jailed as a suspected spy, then declared persona non grata. He was not able to return to Indonesia until 1997 - that same year he began following Rumidjah and her family with his camera.

Three generations of one family weather the challenges of living in modern-day Indonesia, the largest Muslim community on the globe.

The film tells a story of a Tarling Dangdut songwriter who loves being promiscuous but trying to serve an order to write religious Tarling dangdut song.

What is youth all about? Before they could figure out what was happening, Xiao-Bu finds herself in a cat fight with Angel over a cigarette, Ah-Mi sleeps with Xiao-Bu’s boxer boyfriend, and Angel kisses Xiao-Bu. What could be worse? Imagine living with an alcoholic father who chose nothing in life but to stare out of a window. Picture the embarrassment if bird droppings stained your clothes just as you were asking someone out on a date. All three girls fall in love, feel hurt, forget and have experiences that are as random as 17 year-old Xiao-Bu’s coin toss which decides her future relationship with Angel.