Whistle-Stop

Dutch drama about a former mine worker plagued with bad lungs.

A compilation of six standalone short films, each inspired by a contemporary Dutch music composition and created as part of a collaboration between Nederlandse film directors and composers for a Holland Festival presentation.

An unsuspecting flower farmer visits the hospital to discuss some test results, only to find himself admitted without explanation for an indefinite period of further examination and observation.

Tim Boerhave, a philosophy lecturer, loses his legs in a bomb attack. Who is responsible? The last image before the explosion is that of a large black dog with a sardine tin attached to its collar, jumping up against the kitchen door. For Tim, the question of who did it is less urgent than the question of why. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. He can't think of any reason why he was targeted. While his house is being rebuilt, he and his family retreat to a quiet family hotel to recover. Day and night, he locks himself in his hotel room. He is obsessed with mapping out what preceded the explosion on that fateful morning. Who is the perpetrator? Why is Tim the victim?

In this dance film, choreographer Krisztina de Châtel returns to Hungary, her country of birth, together with her dancers and memories. In Budapest, bridges, squares, streets, and courtyards bring the hectic energy of the city to life. The dancers resist the pace of the metropolis with powerful, physical movements. In search of peace, the group moves to the countryside, where they are confronted with another, equally compelling force: the earth itself. The journey culminates in stomping, earthy movements in which control, resistance, and endurance are central. Stalen Neuzen is the result of an intensive collaboration between choreographer Krisztina de Châtel, director Erik van Zuylen, and designer Conrad van de Ven. The film shows De Châtel's work in a distinctly cinematic context and forms a poignant portrait in which the will to control and physical discipline becomes visible and tangible.

Stefan Themerson plays himself in the role of a poet who accuses political and religious leaders of stealing the tools of his trade. His goal is to expose the demagogues as thieves. A researcher launches an investigation and discovers that the poet is unwilling to take back hidden contaminated tools. He (the poet) has devised a method to reveal the reality behind the poem. He wants to strip the words of their associations, sever their ties to the past, scrub them clean of their dictionary definitions. He calls his method Semantic Poetry.