Director FLOOR VAN DER MEULEN

(9 Days From My Window In Aleppo, Greetings From Aleppo)

Floor van der Meulen (1989, NL) graduated in 2012 from the Willem de Kooning Academy with the short fiction film You&I. As part of her curriculum, she studied a year abroad at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

In 2014 she made her international debut as a documentary filmmaker with Paradijsbestormers (Storming Paradise) in collaboration with production company KeyDocs and Dutch broadcaster BNN. Floor was the first Dutch filmmaker who got a Dutch jihadi on camera. The documentary screened at several international film festivals.

From 2015 on Floor has been collaborating with filmmaker Thomas Vroege and with the Syrian photographer Issa Touma on a series of short, personal and insightful documentaries that enlighten the civilian perspective on the Syrian conflict in Aleppo. The first collaboration resulted in the short documentary 9 Days - From My Window in Aleppo (2016) that screened in more than 50 international film festivals (Dok Leipzig, Int. Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Clermont-Ferrand, IFFR, BFI London and won Best European Short film 2016.  The collaboration continues and the second short documentary Greetings from Aleppo (2017) is still screening in film festivals around the world.

In 2016 she also made her debut as a fiction director with In Vrijheid (In Exile) together with production company Baldr Film and Dutch broadcaster NTR. In Vrijheid portrays a Dutch - Moroccan mother who struggles with the return of her son from Syria, set against the backdrop of a growing conservative society. Can we give someone, who left for Syria, a second chance upon their return? In Vrijheid was nominated for the Dutch Golden Calf for Best Television Drama and won Best Actress.

Today Floor works on the feature-length documentary Last Male Standing; about the last male northern white rhinoceros, ever since he is the last male on earth he is surrounded by a sensational attention, with production company Een van de Jongens and Dutch broadcaster IKON docs. Currently, she is developing her first fiction feature with screenwriter Bastiaan Kroeger and producer Derk-Jan Warrink from KeplerFilm. With this project, she and Bastiaan enrolled in the Berlin-based ScriptCirle.

Director | Writer ISABEL LAMBERTI

(Amor, Volando Voy)

Isabel Lamberti was born in Germany, but grew up in Spain and later on the Netherlands. She studied Film science at the University Of Amsterdam and at Tisch School of the Arts in New York before attending the film academy of Amsterdam. In her films, Isabel concentrates less on narrative story and more on creating worlds and painting landscapes to help symbolize the (inner)world of her characters. She has a preference for social realistic films and doesn’t like to make distinctions between documentary and fiction. Volando Voy (I’ll fly higher), Isabel’s graduation film was selected at many festivals around the world and won the TORINO award at the International Film Festival de San Sebastián. She recently finished her new short film AMOR that was selected for the L’OR gouden kalf competition as well as the debut competition at the NFF. Isabel is currently developing a new short film called VADER/FATHER and her first feature film El Azul Bajo Sus Pies / Beyond the Blue Bridge, presented at the Torino Film Lab, 2016.

Actor | Director | Writer JONAS SMULDERS

(Geen koningen in ons bloed, Broers)

Jonas Smulders (1994) made his film debut with the One Night Stand: Tunnelvisie (“Tunnel Vision”). More roles quickly followed and, in 2013, he became known with his leading role in the young director Mees Peijnenburg’s graduation project ‘Cowboys janken ook’ (“Cowboys Also Cry”) and the feature film ‘Het Diner’ (“The Dinner”). He also appeared in the television film ‘Jongens’ (“Boys”), which was selected for various international film festivals. In 2014, he played his second leading role in the One Night Stand feature ‘Ketamine’ and had a guest role in the successful series Penoza and Flikken Maastricht. In 2015, he played the role of young André in the film adaptation of the book ‘Ventoux’, as well as the leading role in the One Night Stand feature ‘Een goed leven met een gelukkig eind’ (“A Good Life with a Happy Ending”) and ‘Geen koningen in ons bloed’ (“We will never be royals”). The latter earned him a Gouden Kalf (Golden Calf) award for best actor in a television drama.

Director MARIT WEERHEIJM

(Grijs is ook een kleur, Vandaag)

Born in Utrecht in 1992, Marit Weerheijm is a young Dutch director based in Amsterdam. In 2016 she graduated as a director of fiction films from the Netherlands Film Academy with her short film ‘When grey is a colour’. This graduation film was selected at multiple international film festivals and in 2017 the film won the two main jury prizes at the Toronto International Film Festival Kids. On top of that, the film was also the winner of the CILECT award for ‘best student film’ and the film was selected to be a winner in the Foreign Narrative category of the Student Academy Awards 2017. Marit's work is based on subtle storytelling, with a strong fascination for interpersonal relationships, particularly within family ties.

Director | Writer SHADY EL-HAMUS

(Nachtschade, Magnesium – writer)

Shady El-Hamus graduated from The Netherlands Film Academy in 2012 as screenwriter / director. He wrote the screenplay for ‘Magnesium’ - directed by Sam de Jong - and wrote and directed ‘About sons’. At the 2012 Netherlands Film Festival Shady was awarded ‘most outstanding talent’.

‘Magnesium’ got selected for the 2013 edition of the Sundance Film Festival – as well as many other festivals.

In January 2013 Shady attended the prestigious MA Directing Fiction Course at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, the United Kingdom, from which he graduated in January 2015 with his short film ‘Fairuz’ - starring acclaimed Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri. Fairuz premiered at the 2015 Dubai International Film Festival.

Since graduation, Shady has directed 10 episodes of a lighthearted TV-Drama in the Netherlands and worked on three more films - two shorts and a 45min single play. All three projects premiere at the 2017 Netherlands Film Festival. Nachtschade, written by Jeroen Scholten van Aschat is the Dutch entry for the Academy Awards in the category of live-action Short film.

Amor

By Isabel Lamberti

AMOR shows, in a number of fragmentary scenes, moments of a day in the lives of a group of teenage girls in the outskirts of a big city in the Netherlands. In a contemplative style, the short film outlines the lack of love in their daily lives, in its broadest sense. Not only does the film focuses on the cold relations between the group and their environment but also explores the relationships within the group itself.

KORT! Bestaan is Gaan

By Shady El-Hamus | written and starring: Jonas Smulders

After the funeral of vicenarian Tobias, friends, relatives, and acquaintances come together to share their loss.

Greetings From Aleppo

By Issa Touma, Floor van der Meulen and Thomas Vroege

Greetings From Aleppo reveals how little the news about Syria corresponds with the experiences of everyday life. Photographer Issa Touma keeps away from bold declarations; he films life, the inconsistencies and perseverance as they reveal themselves in front of his camera. War is tragic and absurd. Surviving is often highly surreal and touching in this war-torn city.

Pensionado

By Shariff Nasr | starring Sigrid ten Napel

After 29 years on the assembly line, Peter is ready for retirement. A film about the art of saying goodbye.