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John Nein / Isabel Arrate / Paolo Bertolin
Festival programmers from around the world have been confirmed as attendees at the second edition of NL Wave, the Dutch cinema showcase being held in Utrecht from September 30-October 2.
Thirty-five new features will be presented both as early-stage project pitches and as works in progress.
John Nein, senior programmer at Sundance Film Festival, will be in Utrecht, with Keith Bennie, vice president, public programming at the Toronto International Film Festival, Paolo Bertolin, producer and programmer at the Venice film festival, Isabel Moir, a programmer for BFI London Film Festival, Jim Kolmar, consultant and film programmer for SXSW and Isabel Arrate, director of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
There will also be an array of sales agents in town, including representatives from Salaud Morisset, The Playmaker Munich, Urban Sales and Attraction Distribution from Canada. Buyers from Dutch distributors Gusto, Cinema Delicatessen, Imagine Film and Paradiso Filmed Entertainment will also attend.
NLWave offers Dutch filmmakers the opportunity to bring their work to the attention of international industry professionals at an early stage and to build and strengthen connections.
This year’s edition presents projects from both emerging and established talent. It includes two feature projects to be directed by Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Aboozar Amini, whose Kabul City In The Wind was the opening film of IDFA 2018. Kabul, Year Zero is being presented as one of the pitches, and Tahminais in the works-in-progress programme. Both are being produced by Silk Road Film Salon, the company Amini co-founded with Chinese-Dutch producer Jia Zhao.
Animator Nina Gantz, a graduate of the UK’s National Film and Television School and whose stop-motion short Edmond won a Bafta award in 2016 and whose 2023 animated short Wander To Wonder was Oscar-nominated and also won a Bafta award, is hatching her next feature Once Upon An Egg, produced by Derk-Jan Warrink and Koji Nelissen’s Keplerfilm, as a project pitch.
Leading documentary maker Aliona van der Horst is presenting Mark & Alla – The Returnin works in progress, and Suzanne Raes has her latest feature doc, We Had A Plan, also in the works in progress programme. Both are being made through Docmakers, the collective set up by van der Horst, Raes, Sanne Rovers, Yan Ting Yuen, writer Fabie Hulsebos and producer Ilja Roomans.
The Myanmar Film Collective, whose Myanmar Diaries screened in the Berlinale in 2022, is presenting What happened to my country, what happened to me?as a work in progress. This is produced by Corinne van Egeraat and Peter Lom’s Zin Documentary outfit, which also produced Myanmar Diaries.
The selectionalso includes features by directors including Reber Dosky, Louis Hothothot, Tom Fassaert , Renzo Martens and Ena Sendijarević among others.
One new initiative this year is the NxtWave strand, which showcases short work from four Dutch filmmakers Dutch/Japanese filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus, Ilke Paddenburg, Nina Broers, and Sabrine Khoury,
Last year’s inaugural event provided a springboard for Dutch features to go on to premiere at festivals including Venice (Al Baraneya), Toronto (In Alaska), Berlin (A Family, Truly Naked), Tribeca (Get Up), Rotterdam (Between Brothers, Treat Her Like a Lady), Edinburgh (First Zone), Visions du Réel (Club Heaven) and at IDFA (Paikar).
NLWave is an initiative of the Netherlands Film Fund in co‑operation with SEE NL.
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