Exciting filmmaker DAVID VERBEEK will be our special guest this session. Just returned from China and with a new film coming up "An Impossibly Small Object", is about time to welcome David as our guest, the author of movies such as "Full Contact", "R U There" among many others.

MORE ABOUT DAVID:

During his second year in film school, DAVID VERBEEK directed the feature film "Beat" with a budget of only 500 euros. It was selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which immediately made him one of the talents to watch. After graduating he left for China, returning three years later with his second feature film "Shanghai Trance"; a cinematic portrait of Shanghai that depicts a generation of young Chinese, bedazzled by a city that is changing faster than they can grow up. The film was released in China in over 250 cinemas and in late 2008, David made the front page of the Volkskrant newspaper for being the first Dutch director to achieve this.

He shot his third feature film in Taiwan, a Dutch/French/co-production. "R U There" is a multi-dimensional experience that was partly filmed in virtual reality. The film got selected to Un Certain Regard in Cannes.

After this, he went on to make a number of arthouse films that won prizes at festivals around the world. Most notably for his film "Full contact" in 2015 about a drone pilot. Which was in the platform competition in Toronto and went on to major A-list festivals competitions such as Tokyo, Rome, and Chicago.

Verbeek currently lives in Shanghai where he is also active as a video artist and photographer. Video installations such as his two-screen installation version of Full contact have been in various galleries and museums.

Also, his photography series “Ghost Month” and “Shanghai, Dusk till Dawn” were exhibited at multiple venues such as in The MOCA Taipei and the UNSEEN photo fair in Amsterdam.

In his latest film "An Impossibly Small Object" he for the first time appears as an actor. The film features his own photography work and is also cut into a 3 screen video installation. Verbeek has become one of the directors whose work exists on the line between the film industry and the art world. 

In our Official Selection, you can watch and meet the teams of:

ROBERT MIMS THE TEXAN BULL RIDER
Doug Hancock | Documentary | 13:32 

After forty-three years riding bulls, Robert Mims is approaching retirement. Robert is one of the few competing black Texan riders and has become legendary among fellow riders for his wit and skill in this dangerous sport. 

HARD
Koen Feitsma | Live-Action | 12:00    

HARD is a short drama about Jason Weird, an up-and-coming DJ talent, who through his own actions, becomes hypersensitive to sound and is struggling with his career and the acceptance of his condition. HARD is about unbelief, fear for the future and perseverance not to give in to the disorder.