Documentary

Online Screening at www.nposales.com
NPO Sales
Documentary
Winter 2014
Our catalogue is
available to screen
online at
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Siblings, VPRO Television >>
Foto: Pim Hawinkels
Available in MIPDOC Video Library
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NPO Sales - Documentary - Science & Technology
Backlight: The Bureau of digital Sabotage
50’
We seem to be prisoners of a worldwide digital web, created by governments and Silicon
Valley. How do we stay in control of our own data? Are there ways to escape the digital
dystopia? Communication among citizens and consumers is intercepted and monitored
on a large scale. We thought the digital revolution would make us into communicating
world citizens. But now we seem to be prisoners of a worldwide digital web. Are we the
last generation to have taken privacy and freedom for granted? How do we become aware
of the new digital reality?
Backlight: Bye bye Car
50’
A documentary about the future of transportation. Cars will become less prominent. Bill
Ford of Ford Motor Company claims that in ten years’ time the company will sell mobility,
not cars. How will we move around in the future? The first spectacular signs are manifesting themselves. Big Data is making an impact in transportation too. Will data lead the way
in the decline of the car?
Backlight: Digital Amnesia
50’
Our memory is dissipating. Hard drives only last five years, a webpage is forever changing
and there’s no machine left that can read fifteen-year old floppy disks. Digital data is
vulnerable. Yet entire libraries are shredded and lost to budget cuts, because we assume
everything can be found online. But is that really true? For the first time in history, we have
the technological means to save our entire past, yet it seems to be going up in smoke. Will
we suffer from collective amnesia?
Backlight: Fake for Real
50’
What is real and what is fake these days? This question presents itself more and more
frequently, whether it’s in regard to newspaper photos, designer bags or the human body.
Even filmed reality - as we see it on TV news - cannot be trusted, since news events are
increasingly (re)created in computers. But when that distinction fades, what happens to
the truth? Backlight explores the blurring boundary between the virtual and the real world
in art and journalism.
Backlight: The European Security Complex
50’
Europe is building a network of unprecedented surveillance technologies that can track
everyone and divide all of us who travel within the EU into those who can travel freely and
those who can’t. By using the newest technologies, such as drones and the retention of
biometric data, the European Union is building an enormous virtual wall against the influx
of ‘irregular’ migrants. The creation of this system has grown into a multibillion euro industry, and has taken on a life of its own. The rhetoric concerning illegal immigrants generates
the money that is used to perfect the security complex.
Backlight: The Greedy Brain
50’
The brain is hot, there’s a real neuro-craze. Last year the brains of two rats were connected through the internet in an experiment by the Brazilian neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis.
According to him, we’re well on our way to developing a brain net, a network of brains
directly connected to one another. If we learn to decipher the brain’s language, what will
we be able to do with it? Play games? Open the garage door? Learn languages more quickly? Read each other’s thoughts, download our brain or create a brain net? Backlight on the
future of our brains.
Backlight: Making the Future
50’
Rapid technological developments have not only made knowledge available to everyone,
but the tools to invent and produce are now at our fingertips too. A new generation of
inventors and makers have taken matters into their own hands and are innovating and
producing in attics, sheds and small local laboratories. Will it lead to a democratisation of
innovation and fabrication or should we fear what the new makers are up to in their own
high-tech laboratories? What will the world look like if everyone can design and make their
own physical products without needing large investments?
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Available in the Docs for Sale video library
50’
Documentary - Science & Technology
Backlight: Regreening the Planet
It is really possible! Turning deserts back into fertile agricultural land and, so, together,
restoring the planet, the environment, and the economy. And it’s urgently needed, too, for
biodiversity is being lost on a large scale. Erosion causes heavy flooding and exhaustion
destroys agricultural land. But there are people who go to bat against ecological destruction. Passionately, they make the earth fertile again. Not only nature benefits, but man as
well as the economy reap the fruits as well.
52’
NPO Sales - Documentary - Society & Human Interest
0,8 Amps of Happiness
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), popularly known as electroshock therapy. This therapy is often effective but has long encountered deep-rooted prejudice and fear. Director
Saskia Gubbels intimately portrays three people who undergo electroshock therapy. She
captures how depression has completely taken over their lives and those of their families
and friends. Will they manage to escape the darkness of depression and psychosis? Will
this treatment give them back just a tiny shred of their former state of happiness they so
long for?
Around the World in 50 Concerts
52’ & 94’
for Feature-Length
2014
2014
In 2013 the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra toured the
world to celebrate its 125th anniversary: 50 concerts spread over 6 continents. Unbounded passion and love for music brings musicians and concert goers together. Documentary
maker Heddy Honigmann lands with the orchestra in Buenos Aires, Soweto and St Petersburg and shows how the ensemble succeeds in gaining the hearts of people with a different cultural background. A journey to the kernel and the power of music which knows how
to touch unexpected emotions and which helps to overcome the pain of living.
Backlight: Who owns Football
50’
Large football clubs are bought by foreign businessmen, who are only in it for the money
and have no emotional tie to football history whatsoever. The biggest European sport
is facing an identity crisis. And what do you do when you, as a supporter, have to stand
by and watch as your club changes its name or your club colours are changed from red
to blue? That’s right: you take matters into your own hands as best you can. This protest
movement may represent more than just football.
Backlight: Youtopia
50’
Shortly before the local elections and inspired by the TV reality show Utopia, Backlight,
together with newly-minted professor of community development Justus Uitermark,
looks at how people would build their community if they could start afresh. We visit three
local communities with people going against the existing (political) system and trying to
do things in a different way. What are these communities doing differently, what do we
need to agree on, and what can we live without? Are these communities freer or is it the
opposite? And what does it say about the world we live in now?
Bittersweet
78’
Full of ambition to fight the best in her league female boxer Diana Prazak accepts an invitation by the world’s overall number one and WBC Super feather weight World Champion
Frida Wallberg to fight for her title in Frida’s hometown Stockholm. Although they’re both
world‑class fighters, they couldn’t be more opposite. Leading up to the match, Lucia Rijker,
former 6 times world champion, coaches Diana though a six‑week program to prepare
her physically and mentally for one of the toughest fights of her life. Filmmaker Marieke
Niestadt gives us a unique insight into the world of female boxing.
Online Screening at www.nposales.com
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NPO Sales - Documentary - Society & Human Interest
Don’t lose Heart
82’
2014
A poignant documentary about the history of a family haunted by
World War II. On the basis of archive material, documents left behind by her great-aunt
Ro Miller and stories told by her father Eli Asser, filmmaker Hella de Jonge reconstructs
what happened to her family during, before and after the war. How they became aware of
the danger, how they fled, how they hid, how they survived and how they died. And how,
after the war was over, it continued to weigh on their lives.
Dusty Bin Dreams
55’
Eriss Khajira grew up on the largest dumpsite of East Africa: the Dandora Dumpsite in
Kenya. Tens of thousands of people live on and around this dumpsite, scavenging through
the waste of Nairobi’s residents. Khajira goes back to the place of her youth and she
portrays five dumpsite inhabitants. The result is a touching and shocking documentary
that shows the strengths, the sorrows and the dreams of her slum neighbours. Dusty
Bin Dreams tells the story of African poverty from the inside: a story of hope, friendship,
despair and betrayal.
Face it!
53’
A personal, investigative documentary about menopause. Like many women, director
Ingeborg Beugel, didn’t know what was happening to her. She was irritated, confused,
depressed and didn’t feel like being intimate anymore. She didn’t recognise herself
anymore and thought she was driving insane. Too late she found out that all these changes
in her life were linked to menopause. Beugel started investigating and learned there is still
a lot to be exposed about this phase in a women’s life.
Falling
25’
How would it be to suddenly lose consciousness? To lose control of your own body and
life? That an attack is constantly on the prowl? Director Jef Monté knows how this feels
as he developed epilepsy recently. In this documentary he follows a young woman who
wants to live an independent life, but who is prevented from this because of her epilepsy.
The film shows the struggle she must make to get control of her own life again.
Killer Slope
108’ & 2 x 45’
2014
In this documentary we follow filmmaker and investigative journalist
Geertjan Lassche closely while he joins an expedition of mountain climbers on their way
up to the top of the Cho Oyu, the sixth mountain in the world. What drives these people?
How ruthless do you need to be? And are these mountain climbers really as arrogant as
they seem to be? The closer the group gets to the top, the more we see all kinds of universal dilemmas in and about mountaineering. And then, after six weeks, the mountain itself
turns against the climbers.
My darling Dog has Cancer
25’
A touching and intimate documentary about the unconditional love for a pet. Filmed at
the largest animal hospital in Europe, the oncology department of The University clinic
for Companion Animals in the Netherlands. Seven different people have one thing in
common; their pets are diagnosed with cancer. They have to make an important decision
for their cat or dog; start an intensive chemotherapy or radiation therapy, have their pet
operated or decide on no treatment at all.
The Need to Dance
58’
2014
The Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaou travels through
Europe with his dance performance. He is one of the most versatile and successful dance
artists of our times. As the son of a Moroccan father, a Muslim, and a Roman-Catholic
Flemish mother it was anything but obvious that he would become an artist. Sidi Larbi
Cherkaoui discovered that dance gave him the opportunity to express himself and to cope
with his problems. Growing up in two cultures is still the rich source of the dance pieces
he creates.
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Available in the Docs for Sale video library
NPO Sales - Documentary - Society & Human Interest
Oleg Klimov: Letters to myself
58’
For twelve years, Russian war photographer Oleg Klimov has documented the disintegration of the Soviet Union. He was present at almost all conflicts and ethnic tensions
in the 90’s. His photographs appeared in many Western newspapers. Oleg’s career as a
photographer has also had a personal effect on him. He unexpectedly faces a war trauma.
Longing for inner peace Oleg returns to some of the areas where he has photographed in
wartime. In addition to Oleg’s memories other realities arise: those of the people he then
photographed.
Only the best for our Son
87’
Nominated for a Prix Europa Award 2014 for best TV Documentary. An intimate and cinematographic portrait of Kees (49) who is autistic and is still living with his parents. Mother,
father and son are living together in a symbiotical relationship. Over the years the parents
have adapted themselves to Kees his demands, in order to make him as happy as possible.
Being used to 24/7 care of primarily his mother, Kees fully dependents on her. Kees’ father
tries to create a future perspective for his son, but finds himself being obstructed by his
wife
Plaza Man
for Mid-Length
59’
2014
2014
On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, on November 22, 1963, it was Robert Groden’s 18th birthday. Kennedy’s death changed his life
profoundly. In 1975 Robert shocked millions of Americans when he released the classified
Zapruder film on national television. This amateur footage of Kennedy’s brutal murder
forced US Congress to reopen the case, inviting Robert to join the investigation. It was the
start of an obsessive crusade that would make Robert Groden America’s most famous JFK
conspiracy theorist.
:Puck and the Riddle of Codes
54’
Puck Meerburg (15) has been an IT prodigy from the age of seven. He has won several prestigious prizes already, including the Apple Design Award for students. Major IT companies
like Microsoft and Google have shown their interest in his capabilities. Nonetheless, Puck
is still a child, a minor who just has to go to school. Even though Puck wants to develop
his skills rather sooner than later, homework has to be done and the law doesn’t allow
everything.
The Time There-After
53’
A film about life with HIV and AIDS. We meet three men and two women; together their
five life stories give a clear picture of how the impact of HIV differs from person to person.
A life with HIV cannot be generalized. Being infected in the 80’s means you have to deal
with more physical problems than those more recently infected. This documentary shows
the drama of the 80’s and the 90’s, the enormous progress that has been made, life with
HIV nowadays and the dreams and tasks for tomorrow.
Totilas: Horse and Phenomenon!
60’
Documentary about Totilas, the most talked about horse in the world that conquered all
with rider Edward Gal. Together the duo captured millions of hearts across the world. The
dressage stallion was sold to Germany for an astronomical sum, thereby pinching at least
two Olympic gold medals. Then everything went wrong. As a result of mismanagement,
intrigue and injuries, no one rated the comeback of Totilas very highly. Trainer Sjef Janssen
and rider Matthias Rath have been working on an impressive comeback. After four years
he’ll make his comeback at the World Championships in France, competing for a medal.
We want Kids too
50’
Filmmaker Mirella van Markus is in search of the ideal construction to have a child with her
wife Claudia. Despite their strong desire to have children, there are worries and doubts.
Will their child be at risk, being raised by two mothers? Can they justify raising a child without a father? And as a co-mother, will Mirella have the same unconditional link with her
child as Claudia, the biological mother? ‘We want Kids too’ is a personal, emotional quest
in which two women share their worries, doubts, hopes and disappointments. Parenthood still isn’t a given for two women, and neither is getting pregnant.
Online Screening at www.nposales.com
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Documentary - Current Affairs
Backlight: Power to the City
50’
While national governments are mired in party politics and their own bureaucracy, the
cities are bursting with energy, optimism and a sense of resolve. Where national governments fail, on a city level many problems - in the fields of the environment, poverty, food
production and care - are solved more quickly and together in collaboration with citizens.
Isn’t it high time that our cities are given more power? What would happen if pragmatic
mayors took matters more into their own hands and tried to turn their cities into administrative centres - outside the scope of national politics?
Backlight: Zero Days
50’
There is new gold to be found on the internet, and possibly in your own computer. Secret
backdoors, that do not have a digital lock yet, are being traded at astronomical amounts.
In the cyber world trade, where there are no rules, you are in luck with “white-hat” hackers, who guard your online security. But their opponents, the “black-hat” hackers, have an
interest in an unsecure internet, and sell security leaks to the highest bidder. They are the
preferred suppliers of security services and cyber defence. Who are these black and white
wizards, who fight for the holy grail of hackers: zero days?
Storming Paradise
46’
What drives young Western men to leave everyone and everything behind and travel to
Syria to become a Jihad fighter? The media portrays these boys as vulnerable and derailed.
Is there another side to this picture? In order to understand why they feel called upon to
pick up arms and leave everything they know behind, filmmaker Floor van der Meulen abandons her Western perspective to be able to see things through the eyes of the fighters.
NPO Sales - Documentary - History
The Days after Hitler
50’
It is 30 April 1945 when Adolf Hitler, commits suicide in besieged Berlin. The W.O. II is
over, or at least that is the general perception. Nearly all of Germany is occupied by the
Allies. But the Nazi Empire has not yet been defeated completely. In his last will and testament, Hitler appoints Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Dönitz’ court consists of
a cabinet of six ministers and state secretaries and a civil service of 6000 civil servants
and armed soldiers. The brand-new government, including dozens of high-ranking Nazis,
simply continues to rule the country until 23 May 1945, while the Allies look on.
Forbidden Flight
54’
The fascinating escape story of the eastern German family Anhalt. In the early 80’s the
young couple Anhalt from the GDR was building a single engine aircraft to escape from
the communist dictatorship. They were betrayed, arrested and imprisoned. Relatives took
care of the upbringing of their two children. Thirty years later the family looks back on their
history. What have been the consequences of the failed escape attempt? And how do
these events affect their ideas about freedom?
Marienborn
74’ or 54’
The village of Marienborn in Germany once was world-famous. It was the most important
and most guarded border crossing of the Iron Curtain. These days, Marienborn is a quiet
place. The Stasi-offices and checkpoints are boarded up; grass is growing through barbed
wire. For 40 years the border determined the lives of all 500 villagers. Some acquired
power and status at Stasi border control. Others simply secured a little job and kept their
mouths shut. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Marienborn became a broken community
amid the ruins of a fallen regime.
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Available in the Docs for Sale video library
NPO Sales - Documentary - Documentary series
Living at the End of the World
8 x 35’
Award-winning Dutch leading travel show presenter, Floortje Dessing, travels to remote
areas in the world and meets local people to find out what it is like to live at the end
of the world. She travels to Gorge River -New Zealand, Karasjok-Norway, YendegaiaChili, Restoration Island Australia, Storá Dímun – Faeröer, Qikiqtarjuaq – Canada, Kafue
National Park – Zambia and Kabul – Afghanistan.
No Man’s Land
6 x 52’
In No Man’s Land Rudi Vranckx spends six episodes travelling across Africa from east to
west: from Mogadishu, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, to Timbuktu, one of
the most legendary cities in the world. He travels through Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan,
Chad, Niger and Mali. His journey takes him to several important front lines of the future.
He goes in search of stories about people in one of the least known regions on earth. His
aim is to give people a face we do not know, we often don’t wish to know, and who we are
only interested in when they are washed ashore in a boat on the Mediterranean.
Siblings
4 x 46’
An entertaining documentary series about the lives of brothers and sisters of super
famous people. Leon Hendrix, brother to Jimi: There is still big money to be earned in
the legacy of guitar legend Jimi. George Obama, brother to Barack: George lives in the
Nairobi slums. Vanessa Branson, sister to Richard: Vanessa had to look for her own niche
and she found it in art. She is a key figure in the booming art world of Marrakech. Stella
Parton, sister to Dolly: Just like her sister, Stella wanted to be a professional singer too.
She recorded over 30 albums but never really made it big.
Travels around the World
190 x 30’
A dynamic series about travelling and tourism for young people. The presenters travel
the world in search of the most inspiring, beautiful and unique travel destinations, resul­
ting in two travel reports per episode. The travels vary from long journeys to remote and
unknown areas to visits to exciting cities. Travel destinations include Europe, Africa, India,
Asia, North-America and South-America.
Online Screening at www.nposales.com
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NPO Sales - Documentary
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