The Desert of the Real

This richly illustrated historical documentary investigates the mechanism of nationalist feelings that radicalise. It shows how fascism was on the rise even a decade before the founding of the NSB, due to a number of anti-democratic initiatives led by a millionaire with a predilection for one-legged women, a market vendor, a cleric, and an artist. Historians, writers and collectors of fascist curios reveal how an initially marginal and fragmented movement grew into a radical populist party.

Gerlach van Beinum is one of the last old-school crop farmers near Amsterdam. Surrounded by the advancing exponents of modernity—distribution centers, highways, multinationals—he moves through the seasons at his own pace. We follow him for several years in his fields on the outskirts of Amsterdam. With the help of his best friend Rinus, he grows potatoes, beetroot, grain, and strawberries, which he sells from his barn. In between these activities, his farmhouse proves to be a gathering spot for neighbors and friends, who share with him their dry wit and simple joy.

Drawing on previously unpublished interviews, journals, family footage and propaganda films, The Propagandist tracks the rise and fall of the Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen, who lived from 1898 to 1975.

The Spijkerbergs are an absurdly rich family, but they are also richly absurd. The father – a foolish, hotshot financier – collects miniature dioramas of historical atrocities as a hobby. Mother is a has-been prima donna fighting against the vagaries of age and fame. Inheriting their privilege and casual cruelty is daughter Amy, a rebellious if somewhat insular teenager longing to break out of her gilded cage. To gain a semblance of control over her cocooned existence, Amy produces an autobiographical mock-Kabuki performance that parodies her family.

A town in Aragon commemorates a battle in the Bay of Matanzas. No one wants to play Spanish admiral Benavides, who abandoned his ships and treasures without a fight. An absurd historical choreography of a battle with no casualties, with the eccentric style of the multifaceted Dick el Demasiado.

The career of Eindhoven-based artist and musician Dick Verdult spans decades. He is seen as an outsider, as 'the last Dada-ist'. But what we experience as elusiveness turns out to be quite controlled and firstly funded on very personal experiences from his childhood as a 'Philips child' in Latin America. Rather than experiencing globalism as a problem, Verdult is like a cheerful, transcultural mutant. We see how, at the age of 60, he has become a cult musician in South America, Russia and Japan and is increasingly recognised internationally as a visual artist. This documentary explores Verdult's multidisciplinary, international art practice. We see Verdult at work in his studios in Bergeijk (The Netherlands) and Calanda (Spain) and on tour in Peru, Colombia and Argentina.

Documentary about the Rembrandt Association. In the 19th century, a lot of Dutch art disappeared abroad, before the Rembrandt Association stood up in 1883 to put a stop to it. Today, 140 years later, the Association still helps determine what art lovers see in Dutch museums. In their crowning year, the Association faces a difficult choice: will they make the largest contribution in their history to the purchase of Rembrandt's De Vaandeldrager? The amount of 175 million needed for the painting is causing discussion. Is this money well spent?