The Netherlands Film Festival ( nl, Nederlands Film Festival) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

, held in September and October of each year in the city of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s, the program also consists of short subjects,

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

s, and television productions. On the closing evening of the festival, the Golden Calves are awarded to the best films, directors, and actors. Together with the Netherlands Film Fund, the festival also recognises box office results of Dutch film productions during the year with the

Crystal Film The Crystal Film ( nl, Kristallen Film) is a film award recognising domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Crystal Film is awarded to documentary films from the Netherlands once they have sold 10,000 tickets. The award is an ...

(10,000 visitors of documentary films), the Golden Film (100,000 visitors), the Platinum Film (400,000 visitors), and the

Diamond Film The Diamond Film ( nl, Diamanten Film) is a film award recognising domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Diamond Film is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold 1,000,000 cinema tickets or more during the ori ...

(1,000,000 visitors).

History

The Netherlands Film Festival was founded in 1981 by the Dutch film maker

Jos Stelling Jos Stelling (born 16 July 1945) is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Career He made his debut as a film director in 1974 with ''Mariken van Nieumegen'', which was selected for the official Cannes competition in 1975. In 1981 he founded ...

, who called it the "Netherlands Film Days" (''Nederlandse Filmdagen''). Initially the festival was oriented towards film makers only, but it gradually reached a broader audience. The 36th edition of the festival, in 2016, attracted more than 150.000 visitors.

Canon of Dutch cinema

In 2007, the festival presented their Canon of Dutch Cinema (''Canon van de Nederlandse Film''), containing sixteen monumental films in Dutch film history. The list included the following films: *

The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach ''The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach'' ( nl, De mésaventure van een Fransch heertje zonder pantalon aan het strand te Zandvoort) is a 1905 in film, 1905 early Netherlands, Dutch silent film directed by Will ...

(

Willy Mullens Willy Mullens (4 October 1880, Weesp, North Holland - 21 April 1952, The Hague) was a Dutch producer, director, and promoter of movies. He is considered to be one of the early pioneers of Cinema of the Netherlands, Dutch cinema, and one of his mov ...

and

Alberts Frères Alberts Frères, founded around 1899, was one of the first film production companies in the Netherlands. The company was founded by brothers Albert (1879–1941) and Willy Mullens (1880–1952); they were the main filmmakers and exhibitors in the ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

) *

A Carmen of the North ''A Carmen of the North'' ( nl, Een Carmen van het Noorden) is a 1919 Dutch silent romantic drama film directed by Maurits Binger. Plot Jozef ( Adelqui Migliar) is a young farmer who has been ordered to leave his mother ( Paula de Waart) and ch ...

(

Maurits Binger Maurits Binger (5 April 1868 – 9 April 1923) was a Dutch film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter of the silent film, silent era. He directed 39 films between 1913 and 1922 and is considered one of the pioneers of fictional ...

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

) *

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

( Joris Ivens,

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) * The Tars (

Jaap Speyer Jaap Speyer (1891–1952) was a Dutch film director. He was married to the German actress Mia Pankau. Selected filmography * '' Hedda's Revenge'' (1919) * '' Entblätterte Blüten'' (1920) * '' Colombine'' (1920) * '' Die rote Nacht'' (1921) * ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

) * Houen zo! ( Herman van der Horst,

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

) * Fanfare ( Bert Haanstra,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

) * Like Two Drops of Water (

Fons Rademakers Alphonse Marie "Fons" Rademakers (5 September 1920 – 22 February 2007) was a Dutch actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. His 1960 film '' Makkers Staakt uw Wild Geraas'' was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festi ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

) * Blind Kind ( Johan van der Keuken,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

) *

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(

Adriaan Ditvoorst Adriaan Ditvoorst (23 January 1940 – 18 October 1987) was a Dutch film director and screenwriter. He directed nine films between 1965 and 1984. His 1967 film ''Paranoia'' was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival. Selec ...

, 1965) *Living (

Frans Zwartjes Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat ...

, 1971) *

Turkish Delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

(

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

) *

Flodder ''Flodder'' is a 1986 Dutch comedy film written and directed by Dick Maas, and distributed by First Floor Features. It is the first film in the Flodder franchise and is followed by two more films and a spin-off series. The film follows an anti- ...

(

Dick Maas Dirk Herman Willem Maas (Dick) (born 15 April 1951) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, film producer and film composer. Maas achieved fame after the success of his music videos for the Dutch band Golden Earring, including " Twilight Zone" an ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

) *

The Northerners ''The Northerners'' ( nl, De Noorderlingen) is a 1992 Dutch film by Alex van Warmerdam. The film was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. This black comedy t ...

(

Alex van Warmerdam Alex van Warmerdam (born 14 August 1952) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is also a painter. Life and career Van Warmerdam was born in Haarlem, a city in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. He was cofounder of ...

, 1992) *

The Pocket-knife ''The Pocket-knife'' or '' Het Zakmes '' is a 1992 Dutch children's film directed by Ben Sombogaart. It is based on Sjoerd Kuyper's novel '' Het Zakmes''. The film won several awards, including a Golden Calf Best Director Award. Plot The story i ...

( Ben Sombogaart, 1992) * Het is een schone dag geweest ( Jos de Putter,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

) *

Father and Daughter "Father and Daughter" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. The song, written for the animated family film ''The Wild Thornberrys Movie'', was released as a single in October 2002. An alternate version later appeared on Simon's 11 ...

(

Michaël Dudok de Wit Michaël Dudok de Wit (; born 15 July 1953) is a Dutch animator, director and illustrator based in London. He won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for '' Father and Daughter'' (2000) and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

)

Special guests

Since 1992, the festival organisation invites a special guest, usually a respected director or actor in the Dutch film business. * 1992: Paul Schrader * 1993:

Krzysztof Zanussi Krzysztof Pius Zanussi (born 17 June 1939) is a Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is ...

* 1994:

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

* 1995:

Nouchka van Brakel Nouchka van Brakel (born 18 April 1940 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch film director known for her 1982 movie ''Van de koele meren des doods''. That movie, and A Woman Like Eve (1979), established her as an important Dutch feminist film director. Van ...

* 1996:

Jan de Hartog Jan de Hartog (April 22, 1914 – September 22, 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. Biography Early years Jan de Hartog was born to a Dut ...

* 1997:

Monique van de Ven Monica Maria Theresia "Monique" van de Ven (; born 28 July 1952) is a Dutch actress and director. Life and career From 1973 until 1988 she was married to Dutch cinematographer and director Jan de Bont, with whom she lived in Los Angeles for a ...

* 1998:

First Floor Features First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

* 1999: ? * 2000:

Heddy Honigmann Heddy Honigmann (1 October 1951 – 21 May 2022) was a Peruvian-born Dutch film director of fictional and documentary films. Early life and education Honigmann was born on 1 October 1951 in Lima, Peru, to Jewish refugees. Her mother, Sarah Pa ...

* 2001: Renée Soutendijk * 2002:

Pieter Verhoeff Pieter Verhoeff (4 February 1938 – 17 April 2019) was a Dutch film director. He studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy and graduated in 1966. He is known for his films '' The Mark of the Beast'', '' The Dream'' and '' The Movin ...

* 2003:

Jan Decleir Jan Decleir (born as ''Jan Amanda Gustaaf Decleir'' on 14 February 1946) is a prolific Belgian movie and stage actor born in Niel, Antwerp. Career He had his first big role in Fons Rademakers's ''Mira'' (1971). Since then, he has appeared in ...

* 2004: Jean van de Velde * 2005:

* 2006:

Johanna ter Steege Johanna ter Steege (born 10 May 1961) is a Dutch actress. She won the European Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her movie debut in '' The Vanishing'' (1988). Among her other films are Robert Altman's ''Vincent & Theo'' (1990), István ...

* 2007:

Burny Bos Bernard Gerrit (Burny) Bos (Haarlem, 8 April 1944) is a Dutch producer, scenarist and children's book writer. He also works as an actor in children's programmes on radio and T.V. Career Bos started working with the AVRO-radio. In 1975 he receiv ...

* 2008:

Monic Hendrickx Monic Hendrickx (born 3 December 1966 in Sint Anthonis) is a Dutch actress. She has won several awards during her career including four Golden Calf awards for Best Actress at the Nederlands Film Festival, the Jury Award at the 2001 Newport Beach ...

* 2009:

Jack Wouterse thumbnail Jack Wouterse (born 17 June 1957 in Soest) is a Dutch actor. His career as a movie actor took off with his role in the 1992 film '' The Northerners'', directed by Alex van Warmerdam. Wouterse made his international debut in an episode ...

* 2010: Anneke Blok * 2011: Frans van Gestel * 2012: Jeroen Willems * 2013:

Paula van der Oest Paula van der Oest (born 1965) is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Her 2001 film '' Zus & Zo'' was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. With her final exam at the Dutch Film and Television Academy, ''Zinderend' ...

* 2014:

Fons Merkies Fons may refer to: Places * Fons, Ardèche, France * Fons, Gard, France * Fons, Lot, France Other uses * ''Fons memorabilium universi'', a Renaissance encyclopedia * Fontus, an ancient Roman water deity * Leonard Fons (1903–1956), American ...

*2016: Willem de Beukelaer

Awards

Besides the Golden Calves the Festival also has its own special awards. * Dutch Film Critics award * Award of the city

Tuschinski The Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski (English: Royal Theater Tuschinski) is a movie theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands, near Rembrandtplein. History The theater was founded by Abraham Tuschinski, together with his brothers-in-law Hermann Gerschtano ...

Award (former Cannon City Prize) * Talent & Pro Student Award * NPS Award for best short film * Teen Award * Cinema.nl Film Poster Award (former Skrien Afficheprijs) *

Grolsch Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch (), is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in E ...

Film Award

Openingsfilms

* 1981 The Girl with the Red Hair * 1982 De smaak van water * 1983

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

* 1984 De grens * 1985

Pervola, sporen in de sneeuw ''Tracks in the Snow'' (Dutch: ''Pervola, sporen in de sneeuw'', also known as ''Pervola'') is a 1985 Dutch drama film written and directed by Orlow Seunke. It was entered into the main competition at the 42nd Venice International Film Festival an ...

* 1986

The Pointsman ''The Pointsman'' () is a 1986 Dutch film directed by Jos Stelling, starring Jim van der Woude, Stéphane Excoffier and John Kraaijkamp, Sr. It tells the story of a French woman who moves in with a Dutch railwayman at a remote railway station. The ...

* 1987

Een maand later Een ːnis a village in the Netherlands. It is part of the Noordenveld municipality in Drenthe. History Een is an ''esdorp'' which developed in the middle ages on the higher grounds. The communal pasture is triangular. The village developed du ...

* 1988 Shadow Man * 1989 Blueberry Hill * 1990 Vigour * 1991

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the '' Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's on ...

* 1992 The Three Best Things in Life * 1993 Unknown Time * 1994

1000 Roses '' 1000 Roses '' ( nl, 1000 Rosen) is a 1994 in film, 1994 Netherlands, Dutch drama film directed by Theu Boermans and based on a play by Gustav Ernst. It was the opening movie of the Netherlands Film Festival and won the Golden Calf (award), Gol ...

* 1995

Antonia's Line ''Antonia's Line'' (Original title: ''Antonia'') is a 1995 Dutch feminist film written and directed by Marleen Gorris. The film, described as a "feminist fairy tale", tells the story of the independent Antonia (Willeke van Ammelrooy) who, after ...

* 1996 De nieuwe moeder * 1997 Tropic of Emerald * 1998 Het 14e kippetje * 1999 Under the Palms * 2000 Wild Mussels * 2001 De grot * 2002 Ramses * 2003

Phileine Says Sorry ''Phileine Says Sorry'' ( nl, Phileine zegt sorry) is a Dutch/American 2003 comedy-drama film directed by Robert Jan Westdijk. It is based on the novel ''Phileine zegt sorry'' by Ronald Giphart. Plot The story is about Phileine ( Kim van Koo ...

* 2004

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

* 2005 Life! * 2006 Waiter * 2007 Duska * 2008 In Real Life * 2009

Tramontana Tramontana, Tramontane, or Tramuntana may refer to: Tramontana * "Tramontana", a short story by Gabriel García Márquez, in ''Strange Pilgrims'' * Tramontana (sports car), a Spanish sports car firm * Sebi Tramontana (born 1960), jazz trombonist m ...

* 2010 Tirza * 2011

The Gang of Oss ''The Gang of Oss'' ( nl, De Bende van Oss) is a 2011 Dutch crime drama period film directed by André van Duren starring Sylvia Hoeks and Matthias Schoenaerts. It tells the story of a woman involved with the criminal gangs of the town of Oss in ...

* 2012 The Zigzag Kid * 2013 The Price of Sugar * 2014 Reckless * 2015 J. Kessels * 2016 De Held * 2017 Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle * 2018 Open Seas * 2019 Instinct * 2020 Buladó * 2021 Mijn vader is een vliegtuig

References

External links

Official website

Netherlands Film Festival
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{coord missing, Netherlands Film festivals in the Netherlands Recurring events established in 1981 Mass media in Utrecht (province) 1981 establishments in the Netherlands