And so it ends… after so many amazing weekly sessions this year, our sessions will cease until March 2020 to start our Awards season with the International Tour for the Audience Award and the Annual Awards on January 19th. But we will ‘go out’ with a big bang! Our closing guest is (#DrumRoll) the Dutch film-prodigy SAM DE JONG! Sam de Jong (Prins, Marc Jacobs) is back with a new feature film and we cannot wait to know more about GOLDIE and what he’s been up to.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• SNOR, Directed by Michael Middelkoop | Live-Action | 13:26

NOVEMBER WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in NOVEMBER. This is the LAST FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

This week’s special guest block will be documentary themed, with a panel of directors sharing their work experiences. We are honoured to welcome special guests, SERGEJ KRESO and FLOOR VAN DER MEULEN, to share their experience 'behind the scenes' when filmmaking abroad. Sergej will arrive straight (almost) from the airport, after nearly 3 years of shooting for his new long documentary 'HERE WE MOVE, HERE WE GROOVE'. He filmed everywhere, from Bosnia to Berlin, but which location was the most challenging? Director Floor van der Meulen recently directed the documentary 'THE LAST MALE ON EARTH' at an immense wildlife conservatory in Kenya. She joined the armed rangers on night patrols and created a successful film with a rhino in the lead. Curious? Come and listen to these award-winning directors share their incredible stories. This Q&A will be hosted by Britte Hermans (Creatief met Film).

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• DOWNWARD FACING DOGS, Directed by Karsten de Vreugd | Live-Action | 11:23

• AT FIRST SIGHT, Directed by Sjaak Rood | Animation | 16:10

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

We are honoured to welcome as our special guest this session MISCHA KAMP. Her new film KAPSALON ROMY written by Tamara Bos and produced by BosBros is currently in the cinema and had been receiving many appraisals by critics and both, a young and older audience plus several awards all around the world! Mischa also directed films such as JONGENS, PAARD VAN SINTERKLAAS, SING SONG among many others and she has directed the episode VECHTMEISJES for the series VAN GOD LOS.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• MOONRISE CARCOSA, Directed by Kevin Tromp | Live-Action | 15:21

• A NORMAL LIFE, Directed by Leon de Levita | Live-Action | 14:30

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

It was one of the most popular sessions last year and one of the most requested sessions by you this year. So here we go again to our: CASTING SPECIAL session, where we are going to ask casting directors SUSANNE GROEN (Groen Casting), BERT VAN KRUIJSSEN (Van Kruijssen Casting), and MADELIEF BLANKEN (Jut & Jul Casting) all the tips and tricks of Casting. Get those questions ready - take 2!!

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• IUS TALIONIS, Directed by Robin Piree | Live-Action | 06:41

• ZWART, Directed by Tommie Geraedts | Live-Action | 07:18

OCTOBER WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in OCTOBER. This is the SIXTH FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

Get ready! This session will be BLOODY and SUPER. Our special guest is the 'enfant terrible‘ of Dutch cinema, the (in)famous creator of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE trilogy, TOM SIX. After his pop culture phenomenon film trilogy, Mr Six has just released a brand new highly controversial film ‘THE ONANIA CLUB’.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• SWIPE, Directed by Niels Bourgonje | 05:49 | Horror

• THE BURDEN, Directed by Nico van den Brink | 16:49 | Horror

• WILD, Directed by Jan Verdijk | 11:39 | Live-Action

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

Golden calves winners in the house!! This session, our special guests are two ‘rockstars’ from the new-gen: director SHADY EL-HAMUS and screenwriter JEROEN SCHOLTEN VAN ASCHAT!! Since they’ve worked together SO many times, and they know each other SO well, at this session, Shady El-Hamus and Jeroen Scholten van Aschat will be interviewing each other!

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• BEST MOM EVER, Directed by Louis van Zwol | 10:42 | Live-Action | PREMIERE

• 14.05 ALWAYS A KIND OF ONWARD, Directed by Guido F.G. Jeurissen | 07:51 | Experimental

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

We are thrilled to receive as our special guest this session, director ANTOINETTE BEUMER. Antoinette is the author of hit films such as ‘JACKIE’, ‘LOFT’ and ‘THE HAPPY HOUSEWIFE’. Four years after her latest feature film, Antoinette is back in full force to the film world. She is searching for new talent for the brand new VIDEOLAND ACADEMY (RTL), where she is the Head of Development: fiction and non-fiction, and she also has a new film coming up, an adaption of her acclaimed debut novel, MY DAD’S AN AIRPLANE.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• HOLD ON, Directed by Bart Schrijver | 06:46 | Live-Action | PREMIERE

• A LITTLE BIT OCD: JOYCE, Directed by Rosemarie Hugill | 12:43 | Documentary | PREMIERE

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

This session will be one of our most musical ones! We will receive special guests: director NORBERT TER HALL (A’DAM-E.V.A., &ME), and the music composers of his upcoming film THE PROMISE OF PISA (DE BELOFTE VAN PISA). Norbert invited, from his music composing team, JASPER BOEKE, who had previously collaborated with him on A'DAM-E.V.A.’s score, and RUI REIS MAIA, former producer from AFROJACK’s team. They composed an eclectic and complex soundtrack for his upcoming film. In this session, we will try to better understand their creative process for this soundtrack and how they work together. We will also take this opportunity to find out more about THE PROMISE OF PISA which will premiere in cinemas two days after our session!

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• HOW COUNTRIES FIGHT THEIR WARS, Directed by Thomas Loopstra | 02:04 | Animation | PREMIERE

• NOBU, Directed by Sarah Blok | 09:20 | Documentary

SEPTEMBER WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in SEPTEMBER. This is the FIFTH FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

We are super honoured to receive this session as our SPECIAL GUEST one the ‘directors of the moment’, HISKO HULSING! Hisko is currently directing UNDONE, an animated series for adults, for Amazon Prime and Michael Eisner (ex-Disney)’s Tornante, written by Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg (BoJack Horseman) starring Rosa Salazar (Bird Box) and Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad). This series will premiere on Amazon Prime on September 13th. This series have been collecting lots of love from the major international film press and let’s face how sick is this trailer?!? We can’t wait to see this one!

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• SAFE HAVEN, Directed by Timo Ottevanger, Edson da Conceicao | 16:09 | Live-Action

• ORBIT, Directed by Tess Martin | 06:50 | Experimental

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

After an amazing ‘career’ as a film, DIRTY GOD, the opening film of IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam), and being the first Dutch film ever to be selected to the main competition of Sundance. Sacha Polak’s first English feature is on the race for the European Film Awards and the Golden Calves (aka the Dutch Oscars)!! Anticipating this award season, we are honoured to welcome as our SPECIAL GUEST this session, powerhouse director SACHA POLAK.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• NEST, Directed by Liza Koifman | 15:52 | Live-Action | PREMIERE

• THE OCCUPANT, Directed by Hugo Keijzer | 09:05 | Live-Action | PREMIERE

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

It’s becoming a yearly tradition! We will have a TAKEOVER from our neighbours: the NETHERLANDS FILM ACADEMY - CLASS OF 2019. Dutch Film Academy’s Director BART RÖMER will introduce this awesome batch of talent and film academy. We will also meet some of them and know more about: What drives them? How do they see their future? What's their contribution to Dutch film? and of course, are they rich and famous yet?

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• KRAUT GIRL Directed by Raymon Hilkman | 17:31 | Live-Action

• ECHOING MEMORIES Directed by Jefta Varwijk | 12:00 | Experimental

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

WE ARE BACK! Join us to kickstart this season, from September 3rd until November 26th see you every Tuesday (except on October 1st) at Sociëteit De Kring. It’s great to be back.

Multi-talented actor TIBOR LUKÁCS is our SPECIAL GUEST this session! From theatre (in companies such as Ro Theater, Toneelgroep Oostpool and the Nationale Theater) to TV series (such as Nieuwe Buren, Ik Weet Wie Je Bent, and Divorce) to cinema he has done it all! We are looking forward to knowing more about him, what is his opinion about the acting in the Netherlands and his plans for the future.

In our OFFICIAL SELECTION, you can watch and meet the teams of:

• SPACE SHIT AND STUFF Directed by Junaid Chundrigar | 8:33 | Animation | PREMIERE

• SHADOWBOXERS Directed by Guido Ekker | 2:55 | Documentary | PREMIERE

• SCHOOL'S OUT Directed by Jamille van Wijngaarden | 11:21 | Live-Action

< click on the event’s picture for more info about this session programme >

< WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US AT 19:00 TO WATCH SOME OF SASKIA’S WORKS BEFORE THE SESSION STARTS AT 20:00 >

For the first ever, we will convert several areas of Sociëteit De Kring with media installations from the multimedia artist SASKIA BODDEKE, thanks to SONY Europe, Cam-a-Lot and BeamSystems. The videos, most of them being a part of big multimedia installations, show a selection of the works of Saskia Boddeke that have never been shown in the Netherlands until now.

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

• THE INTERNET , directed Jelle Pothoven | Drama | 07:07

JUNE WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in JUNE. This is the FOURTH FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

It’s official, we are receiving for the first time a YouTube star as our special guest!! We are proud to welcome UK-based SIMON CADE, founder and host of the YouTube channel DSLRguide, the European leading YouTube channel for starting filmmakers. DSLRguide follows Simon Cade’s journey into learning filmmaking and has more than 850k followers on YouTube, and ~350k on Vimeo. Simon’s videos were watched more than 47 million times, and he has collaborated with brands such as Nikon, DJI among many others. Let’s learn more about Simon Cade and the ‘mysterious' YouTube ‘universe.

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

• COMMIT, directed by Tommy Köhlbrugge & Lars Cleven | Documentary | 08:00 | PREMIERE

• FUNDAMENT, directed by Wilbert van Veldhuizen (Wilbrand) | Animation | 05:55 | PREMIERE

HOT NEWZ: The RIDLEY SCOTT CREATIVE GROUP has opened the doors of its first office in Amsterdam!!! The creation of Ridley Scott Creative BV. Amsterdam comes as the global transmedia group looks to explore creative opportunities in the Netherlands and Europe, building on recent successes and capitalising on commercial growth in the region. Established in 2018, the Ridley Scott Creative Group gathers the collective of RSA Films, Scott Free, Black Dog Films, and Darling Films. The group will aim to strengthen agency relationships in Europe, and continue to be headquartered in London, with offices in LA, New York, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. 

We are SUPER honoured to receive as our special guest, Mr. ROSS PLUMMER​, Managing Director of the Ridley Scott Creative Group Europe to find more over the group’s plans. We will also receive, as our special guest, one of the first talents to be hired in the Netherlands’ team, exciting director JOHN FILIPE and find out more about his vibrant creative process.

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

• LIFE AWAY FROM HOME, directed by Guus Schuijl | Documentary | 06:56 | PREMIERE

• SAMOERAAI, directed by Sven Peetoom | Drama | 09:18

… and get those Dancing shoes ready, because there is an after-part on this session. DJ MR. DAM will be in charge of the dance activity of this evening.

Proud and honoured to receive a takeover from the most exciting writers rooms in the country: WINCHESTER MCFLY. Winchester McFly is an exciting, witty and funny collective of screenwriters composed of MICHAEL LEENDERTSE, JOOST REIJMERS, THOMAS VAN DER REE, MATTHIJS BOCKTING, PIETER VAN DEN BERG and SARAH OFFRINGA. Their credits list includes the upcoming Netflix series ‘Ares’, last Dutch entry to the Academy Awards and most seen Dutch film last year ‘Bankier van het Verzet’, TV series: ‘Smeris’, ‘Vliegende Hollanders’, ‘Judas’ and much more. Let’s find out all their secrets and how they work together, in this session.

PS: This is an emotional one for us, two of them are Shortcutz’ winners (<3 forever Thomas and Joost).

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

• RETURN OF THE GOLDEN GIRL , directed by Annabel Essink | Drama | 04:20 | PREMIERE

• NOW OR NEVER AGAIN, directed by Marieke Widlak | Documentary | 15:00

MAY WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in MAY. This is the THIRD FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

Our special guest this session is the exciting director CARINE BIJLSMA! Carine just returned from the prestigious TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL where she premiered her latest film: Devil’s Pie: D’Angelo. In Devil’s Pie, Carine followed the emblematic singer D’Angelo during two years in his return with 2014’s Black Messiah. It features interviews with the musician, his management, and his collaborators, including Questlove. This film has been loved by the critics and has been collecting attention from all over the world. This film premiered in the Netherlands last Thursday and you can watch it now on these cinemas and we have extra good news for you, Amstelfilm will giveaway tickets for a screening of Devil’s Pie: D’Angelo

In the latter part of Carine’s interview, we will also welcome on stage the producer MIRA MENDEL to ask her some questions regarding the production and the international collaborations for this film.

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

• FORWARD MARS, directed by Martijn de Vos | Documentary | 14:07

• YULIA & JULIET, directed by Zara Dwinger | Live-Action | 11:39

Our special guest this session is the Dutch film prodigy MORGAN KNIBBE. With just 30 year-old and so many stunning films and achievements. Morgan is the author of ‘A Twist in the Fabric of Space’, ‘Shipwreck’ (Silver Leopard-winner in Locarno) and ‘Those Who Feel the Fire Burning’ (Golden Calf winner ). Morgan latest film ‘The Atomic Soldiers’ follows the witnesses of the American nuclear tests in the 1950s, this films granted him the Golden Calf and DirectorsNL Award Best Short Documentary, and it was released by New York Times. Get ready for a ‘feast’ of cool short films because in this session we will screen the short films: SHIPWRECK and THE ATOMIC SOLDIERS (New York Times’ version).

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

• FEVER, directed by Rafael Romero Peña | Experimental | 7:50 | PREMIERE

• ON AIR, directed by Bastiaan Rook | Live-Action | 15:00

This session, our special guest is HANS DAGELET! Hans is one of the most versatile artists in the Netherlands. He is not only an actor but also a musician, painter and writer. But there is more, Hans is getting ready to include another craft to this list. We are honoured to welcome Hans, to get to know him and his career better and offer our stage to premiere Hans first short film as director: RIP, co-directed with Jan Boiten.

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

• RHYTHM IN PERSON, directed by Nicky van Exel | Live-Action | 06:19 | PREMIERE

• CROW’S NEST, directed by Flynn von Kleist | Live-Action | 12:43

BOOM! Our special guest this session is one of the Netherland’s most remarkable producers: FRANS VAN GESTEL! Frans has produced over 140 feature films, drama series, short films and international co-productions. His credit list includes movies such as God Only Knows, Girl, The Longing, Layla M., The Commune, A Noble Intention, Black Book, Stellet Licht, The Heineken Kidnapping, Code Blue, Black Butterflies, Love is All, The Broken Circle Breakdown, The Misfortunates, Joy, among many many others. RESPECT! Frans is the co-founder of TOPKAPI FILMS one of the leading film production companies in the Netherlands. He is currently working on Halina Reijn's directorial debut Instinct, Paul Verhoeven's new film Benedetta, and even Thomas Vinterberg's new project!! So much to talk about!

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

• AN UNFINISHED LOVE, directed by Rami el Harayri | Animation | 04:08

• ONE OF THE BOYS, directed by Ivo van Aart | Live-Action | 11:30

APRIL WINNER: Screening and Announcement of our JURY TEAM favourite movie in APRIL. This is the SECOND FILM to be nominated for Mr Zee Best Film and to join our international tour for the Audience Award.

>> THIS SESSION IS ON WEDNESDAY <<

They are the hottest of the hottest right now! We are really looking forward to welcoming the cool content team of VIDEOLAND and answer all those questions you have in mind. VIDEOLAND is a Video-On-Demand platform by RTL. They are responsible for hit series such as: Mocro Maffia, Nieuwe Buren, Judas (and more!), and they a lot planned for the near future. Bring those questions!

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

• WON’T FORGET YOU, directed by Maarten Swaan | Drama | 13:05

• RUN BABY RUN, directed by Timo Ottevanger | Live-Action | 11:36

We are honoured to receive as our special guest this session, director ARNE TOONEN. Arne is unstoppable. His latest film BAANTJER HET BEGIN, the prequel of the popular TV series BAANTJER, starring our former ambassador Waldemar Torenstra and our current ambassador Tygo Gernandt, is now in 134 cinemas across the country. There’s so much more in Arne’s future, including two international projects and a series -> unstoppable!

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

• TRIBE OF GHOSTS, directed by Almicheal Fraay | Documentary | 08:25

• SLEEPERS, directed by Danny Maas | Live-Action | 8:45

200 SESSIONS! 200!! There is only one thing to do: P-A-R-T-Y. This evening you will see some ‘film rockstars’ as DJs, and we strongly advise you to start polishing your party shoes and stock up your business cards because WE WILL DANCE AND NETWORK! We would like to call you all to join in, because first, we couldn’t do it without you. It’s been 200 sessions of talent, energy, love for cinema, stubbornness and much more. So, let’s cut the ‘blah blah blah’ and dance! :) Our goals for this session are FUN and GEZELLIGHEID, so bring it on.

With JOB ROGGEVEEN from the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning trio JOB, JORIS & MARIEKE, the unexpected DJ DUO: DIRTY GOD with director SACHA POLAK and leading star VICKY KNIGHT plus DJ MAFFIA aka HUGO METSERS.

This session will be dedicated to the IMAGINE FILM FESTIVAL. For 35 years, Imagine Film Festival has been the number one festival homaging fantastic film in The Netherlands. Festival director CHRIS OOSTEROM will join us to let us know more about this edition and co-host the Q&A. Guest to be announced.

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

• STUCK, directed by Alexander Wolff | Live-Action | 9:30

• SCREWED, directed by Tim Schijf | Live-Action | 06:47

Proud and honoured to receive as our special guest, director ENA SENDIJAREVIĆ !! We’re doubly proud because Ena’s also a well-deserved winner of the Mr Zee Best Director Award in our 3rd Annual Awards. Look at her now! Her first feature film, TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE, was released in the last IFFR - International Film Festival Rotterdam, won the Special Jury Award for outstanding artistic achievement, and received a lot of love by the international film press. TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE will run from May 23rd in cinemas across the country.

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

• DAYDREAMING, directed by Yim Brakel | Live-Action | 10:01  

• BEHIND THE MAGIC: ROBIN MATRIX, directed by Justin Krul | Documentary | 2:48

Our special guest this session is the remarkable actress GAITE JANSEN. Gaite is considered one of the most promising Dutch young acting talents of her generation, so incredibly young, and she already has an impressive track record with titles such as: PEAKY BLINDERS, LINE OF DUTY, 170 HZ, SUPERNOVA among many others. Gaite recently wrapped JETT, a new show for Cinemax in the US. So much to talk about!

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

• VILSHULT: AN AMSTERDAM PICTURE FROM IKEA, directed by Tom Roes | Documentary | 14:24

• BELONGING, directed by Aswin Baaijens | Live-Action | 10:00

On March 7th, artist-extraordinaire ROSTO has left us. For over 20 years, his work was celebrated all over the world by its unique and visionary form. Rosto, during one of our sessions, said he would like his films to be appreciated by switching the electronic gadgets off, open a bottle of good wine, and dive in. So we would like to do exactly that this session. We will screen his short film THE MONSTER OF NIX, offer you a glass of wine, and dive in. After the screening, film festival representatives and colleagues will talk about his career, all in a very informal setup as our sessions normally are. Attendees include (this list is going to be updated until the event with more names): CHRIS OOSTEROM (artistic director IMAGINE FILM FESTIVAL), REMCO LEE POLMAN (Donald Duck, Sjors and Sjimmie) and JANTIENE DE KROON (Mortel, Brug, Dirkjan Heerst!). ROSTO’S HOMAGE WILL BE FROM will be from 21:00 (+- 10 minutes) till 22:15. 

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

• FAMILY HOUR, directed by Mariia Ponomarova | Live-Action | 11:30

• STANDING OVATION, directed by Oscar Paling | Live-Action | 6:00

STOP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING, JOB, JORIS & MARIEKE HAVE A NEW SHORT FILM and we are thrilled to screen it at Shortcutz! Oscar-nominees Job, Joris & Marieke saw their films and music videos winning over 75 awards and be screened at more than 300 film festivals worldwide. It’s a real pleasure to welcome them again as our special guests and screen their latest film A DOUBLE LIFE.

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

• ALARAPH directed by Guust Mulder | Live-Action | 15:00

• ALONE WITH EVERYONE'S LOVE directed by Paulien van Hummel | Live-Action | 03:43 | PREMIERE

WE ARE BACK! We will kickstart 2019 season with multi-talented ANNA DRIJVER as our OPENING GUEST!!! Anna is super well-known for roles in movies and TV series. Lately, she can be seen in the leading role of Belgian-Dutch Netflix series UNDErCOVER, in the NIEUWE BUREN and soon in Diederik van Rooijen’s HEIRS OF THE NIGHT. Besides her acting career, she also has a prolific career as Screenwriter/Writer and she started a podcast over filmmaking! Yep, she has it all and we are looking forward to knowing more about her and all her plans for the (super busy) future!

Screenwriter/Producer LARRY WILSON (Beetlejuice, The Addams Family) will also take our stage briefly to let us know more about his upcoming screenwriting classes in Amsterdam.

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

• AMEEN directed by Ismar Vejzovic & Bafl Sarhang | Live-Action | 15:36

• ACCIDENT directed by David Cocheret | Live-Action | 06:40