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Netherlands Film Production Incentive invests € 10.3 million in 24 productions

In the first round of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive of 2024 contributions were made to 24 productions for a total amount of € 10.3 million. These include 16 feature films, 5 documentaries, 2 drama series and 1 documentary series including 12 international co-productions.

These contributions will generate more than € 37.7 million in production expenses in the Netherlands across the entire spectrum of Dutch film professionals and film companies.

In this round a contribution was made to the following projects:

Projects backed in the first round of 2024:

  • Cap Farewell (Vanja d'Alcantrara)
  • The Dawn of the Post Plantation (Renzo Martens, Ced'art Tamasala)
  • Double Six (Ruud Schuurman)
  • Hawa (Najiba Noori, Rasul Ali Noori)
  • Holy Saint Anthony (Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito)
  • The Inconvenience of Being Right (Joris Postema)
  • Jimpa (Sophie Hyde)
  • Miss Puke and the Brilliant Escape (Aram van de Rest)
  • Miss Pots (Martijn Smits)
  • Last Letters from my Grandma (Olga Lucovnicova)
  • Mees Kees op eigen Benen (Pieter van Rijn)
  • Midwinter Break (Polly Findlay)
  • My Brother (Koert Davidse)
  • PAAZ (Anne de Clercq)
  • Red Flags (Lodewijk van Lelyveld)
  • Wonderful (Maurice Trouwborst)
  • Schoolfeest (Merijn Scholte Albers, Tobias Smeets)
  • Spinoza meets Rembrandt (Rudolf van den Berg)
  • Weird Elliott (Johannes Nyholm)
  • Whitetail (Nanouk Leopold)
  • Woezel & Pip: Lost in the Magicpark (Dennis Bots)

High-end TV-series backed in the first round of 2024:

  • Basta (Remy van Heugten)
  • Mucked Up II (Eva Crutzen)
  • The Great Art Swindle (Andreas Dalsgaard)

Read more details about the backed projects below.

Upcoming application round 2024

The next application round for Netherlands Film Production Incentive is 22 April 2024. The Netherlands Film Production Incentive offers a financial contribution in the form of a cash rebate on the qualifying production costs that are demonstrably spent in the Netherlands.

Dawn of the Post Plantation

All projects backed by the Netherlands Film Production Incentive in the first round of 2024 are:

Film projects

Cap Farewell (feature film)

Director: Vanja d'Alcantrara (BE)
Script: Vanja d'Alcantrara (BE)
Dutch co-producer: Volya Films
Lead producer: IOTA Production (BE)
Co-producer: ACPAV (CA)

Logline: When Toni (24) is released from prison she has to decide between her passion for childhood boyfriend Max and her role as a mother for her 7-year old, Anna, who was raised by her grandmother Betty. Through old connections, Toni is re-introduced to the criminal underworld. Under increased pressure, she has to fight her way out of it, to grow as a free woman and mother.

Granted support: € 76,680

The Dawn of the Post Plantation (documentary)

Director: Renzo Martens, Ced'art Tamasala
Script: Renzo Martens, Roelof Jan Minneboo
Dutch producer: Scenery
Co-producer: Clin d'oeil Films (BE)

Logline: A White Cube appears on a plantation in Congo. It helps a community of plantation workers get back the land Unilever stole from them. When they find out that not only margarine and chocolate but also art is paid for by exploitation and deforestation, asks the White Cube forgiveness and uses the art world to get their land back and restore the forests.

Granted support: € 264,259

Double Six (feature film)

Director: Ruud Schuurman
Script: Gerben Hetebrij
Dutch producer: Jabadoo Holding

Logline: The endearing party animal Annabel (25) has lived off her parents' million-dollar inheritance for years, but then suddenly the money runs out, she has to leave her house and she is also dumped by her parasitic boyfriend. Annabel realizes that she has to learn to stand on her own two feet, but how do you do that without a credit card, without work experience, without a roof over your head?

Granted support: € 534,008

Hawa (documentary)

Director: Najiba Noori, Rasul Ali Noori (FR)
Script: Najiba Noori (FR)
Dutch co-producer: EVDJ
Lead producer: TAG Film

Logline: Filmed over five years, Hawa tells the story of an Afghan family, and in particular, that of Hawa, the filmmaker's mother. Forty years after being married off at the age of thirteen, she, supported by her daughter, seeks to build an independent life, learning to read and write. However, when the Taliban regains power, their shared dream seems farther away than ever.

Granted support: € 38,223

Holy Saint Anthony (feature film)

Director: Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito
Script: Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito
Dutch producer: Topkapi Films
Co-producer: Menuetto Film (BE)

Logline: When Sandra discovers her partner has been cheating on her, everything changes. As her debts pile up, she is forced onto the street and left in the impossible position of having to look after her kids and earn a crust. When the powers-that-be start snooping on her, she is forced to make a radical choice.

Granted support: € 848,075

The Inconvenience of Being Right (documentary)

Director: Joris Postema
Script: Joris Postema, Harmen Jalvingh
Dutch producer: DOXY
Co-producer: Menuetto Film (BE)

Logline: Cinematic examination of what it takes to bring about substantial change, shown through the fight of three characters against climate change.

Granted support: € 146,301

Jimpa (feature film)

Director: Sophie Hyde (AU)
Script: Matthew Cormack, Sophie Hyde (AU)
Dutch co-producer: Viking Film
Lead producer: Closer Productions (AU)

Logline: Film director Hannah and her non-binary teenager Frances travel to Amsterdam to visit Frances’ beloved gay grandfather Jim (Jim-pa). When Frances yearns to stay with Jim for their final year of school, Hannah has to reconsider her beliefs about parenting and confront old stories about her relationship with her father.

Granted support: € 649,551

Miss Puke and the Brilliant Escape (feature film)

Director: Aram van de Rest
Script: Michiel Peereboom, Appie Boudellah
Dutch producer: AM Pictures

Logline: When two old “friends” of Miss Puke escape from prison, Lotte and Thijs are involved in a plan to put Puke in prison. But because Lotte and Thijs are so absorbed in their search for Thijs' biological father, they do not realise that they are in great danger.

Granted support: € 301,277

Miss Pots (feature film)

Director: Martijn Smits
Script: Don Duyns
Dutch producer: 2CFILM

Logline: When Miss Pots becomes the new teacher of the special students Kaya and Simon, they wake up from their "hibernation" and do everything they can to get Miss Pots out of school. But Pots harbors a secret that puts Kaya and Simon in great danger.

Granted support: € 284,000

Last Letters from my Grandma (documentary)

Director: Olga Lucovnicova (BE)
Script: Olga Lucovnicova (BE)
Dutch co-producer: Volya Films
Lead producer: While We're Here (BE)
Co-producers: Microfilm (RO), OWH Studio (MD)

Logline: With the urge to unravel a deep-rooted family secret, director Olga Lucovnicova travels to a remote Ural town. During her search and attempt to reconnect with the past, Russia started a war. Will the voices of her family members be silenced again?

Granted support: € 45,370

Mees Kees op eigen Benen (feature film)

Director: Pieter van Rijn
Script: Tijs van Marle
Dutch producer: Greenfield Film Productions

Logline: When Mees Kees moves and Tobias' mother meets a nice man, there seems to be a lot going on change for Tobias. While Dreus prepares a fox hunt and the class has a fun robot project, Tobias discovers together with Mees Kees that change is not always bad! Sometimes maybe even fun.

Granted support: € 367,500

Midwinter Break (feature film)

Director: Polly Findlay (UK)
Script: Nick Payne (UK)
Dutch co-producer: Family Affair Films
Lead producer: Shoebox Films (UK)
Co-producer: Bombito Productions (UK)

Logline: A retired couple flies to Amsterdam for a midwinter break. A time to refresh the senses and to take stock of what remains of their lives. But amongst the wintry streets and icy canals we see their relationship fracturing beneath the surface when memories re-emerge of a troubled time and an extraordinary event in their native Ireland.

Granted support: € 706,825

PAAZ

My Brother (documentary)

Director: Koert Davidse
Script: Koert Davidse
Dutch producer: seriousFilm

Logline: Can I, in retrospect, get to know my brother – who died of AIDS 40 years ago – better in the present?

Granted support: € 89,000

PAAZ (feature film)

Director: Anne de Clercq
Script: Anne de Clercq, Lineke van den Boezem, Myrthe van der Meer
Dutch producer: KeyFilm

Logline: When Emma (29) suddenly gets admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, there is one thing she knows for sure: a mistake has been made. After all, she has a nice job, an amazing boyfriend and a good life, so the fact that sometimes she wants to die can’t be a problem, can it?

Granted support: € 784,957

Red Flags (feature film)

Director: Lodewijk van Lelyveld
Script: Susan Stam
Dutch producer: NewBe

Logline: During a gap-year, Tess sees an opportunity to be swept away from her life in the elusive Fender. When they meet at the hotel where she works and he stays, love hits hard. They both try to ignore the red flags, but is that wise? Because if you're not ready for love, does that love stand a chance?

Granted support: € 300,000

Schoolfeest (feature film)

Director: Merijn Scholte Albers, Tobias Smeets
Script: Merijn Scholte Albers, Tobias Smeets, Caspar Smeets
Dutch producer: Lemming Film
Co-producer: Lemming Film België (BE)

Logline: High school music teacher Edwin (48) is tired of being the laughing stock of the school. His lack of authority gets in his way on all fronts. When he asks gym teacher and lonely alpha male Peter (55) for help, together they get caught up in an absurd game of blackmail and grotesque escalation, directed by a sadistic teenager.

Granted support: € 586,479

Spinoza meets Rembrandt (feature film)

Director: Rudolf van den Berg
Script: Rudolf van den Berg
Dutch producer: Flinck Film

Logline: Spinoza tackles superstition and abuse of power with a razor-sharp pen. Rembrandt warns him that the established order will retaliate with forceful means.

Granted support: € 293,818

Weird Elliott (feature film)

Director: Johannes Nyholm (SE)
Script: Johannes Nyholm (SE)
Dutch co-producer: BALDR Film
Lead producer: HOBAB (SE)
Co-producer: Join Motion Pictures (IS)

Logline: When autistic vlogger Elliot is forced out of his apartment, he finds traces of a dead body on an old videotape. In his efforts to solve the mystery, he locates the house of the crime, and decides to move in.

Granted support: € 203,525

Whitetail (feature film)

Director: Nanouk Leopold
Script: Nanouk Leopold
Dutch producer: Circe Films
Co-producers: Keeper Pictures (IE), Savage Film (BE), Kaap Holland Film (NL)

Logline: When Jen’s old boyfriend Oscar returns to her small town in southern Ireland, she is forced to face the tragedy that marked them for life.

Granted support: € 206,562

Woezel & Pip: lost in the Magicpark (feature film)

Director: Dennis Bots
Script: Maarten van den Broek
Dutch producer: NewBe

Logline: When stuffed animal Woezel gets lost, he embarks on an adventurous journey through the Magic Park to reunite with his owner Sam and best friend, Pip. Will the threesome be able to find each other?

Granted support: € 280,000

Wonderful (feature film)

Director: Maurice Trouwborst
Script: Lotte Tabbers
Dutch producer: Millstreet Films

Logline: Five women of different ages are confronted with their self-image. Their story is about desire, courage, and embracing your own unique beauty.

Granted support: € 640,000

High-end TV-series

Basta (dramaseries)

Director: Remy van Heugten
Script: Thomas van der Ree, Bastiaan Kroeger, Lotte Tabbers
Dutch producer: Hollands Licht

Logline: Basta depicts the professional and personal life of Dutch footballer Marco van Basten in a honest and outspoken way. We see how the successes of one of the greatest football legends in the world alternate with the lows of extreme physical and emotional turmoil. A candid view on his life builds op to a climax in which Marco is forced to be honest to the world, and ultimately to himself.

Granted support: € 2,070,534

The Great Art Swindle (documentary series)

Director: Andreas Dalsgaard (DK)
Script: Andreas Dalsgaard (DK)
Dutch co-producer: Scenery
Lead producer: Elk Film (DK)
Co-producer: Akka Films (CH)

Logline: The Great Art Swindle is a thrilling three-part documentary series and feature documentary that tells the unbelievable true story of how Yves Bouvier stole a billion dollars from Dmitry Rybolovlev while building him the single most remarkable private art collection in the world — and how, when Rybolovlev discovered this deceit, he set out to wipe Bouvier off the face of the planet.

Granted support: € 88,639

Mucked Up II (dramaseries)

Director: Eva Crutzen
Script: Eva Crutzen
Dutch producer: Topkapi TV

Logline: In Mucked Up II, we follow Cat, who 'wants to make something of life,' but how do you actually do that? How do you make the right choices? And how do you deal with the consequences of those choices, which sometimes turn out very differently than expected? A comedic drama series about the unsettling and simultaneously calming imperfection of life.

Granted support: € 550,886