Netherlands Film Production invests in 20 new film projects and 5 High-End TV-series
In the second round of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive of 2024, € 12.5 million euros has been invested in 25 productions. The selection consists of 16 feature films, 3 documentaries, 1 animated feature film and 5 drama series. 17 of the projects are international co-productions.
The Film Production Incentive offers a financial contribution in the form of a cash rebate for production costs that are made in The Netherlands. The € 12.5 million contribution made by the Netherlands Film Fund during this round is expected to generate approximately € 48 million in production expenses in the Netherlands.
Applications exceeded available funds
Remarkably, this round of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive the total of applications exceeded the available funds for the first time in ten years. In order to support as many projects as possible, the Netherlands Film Fund applied extra budget to increase the maximum subsidy amount. This budget became available thanks to returned investments from previously selected projects. These funds are being returned to the Fund when a project's cost is lower than expected or when a project is withdrawn. In addition to this, some applicants have chosen to move their project to the next round.
The next deadline for application for the Netherlands Film Production Incentive, for films and High-End Series, is the 26th of August, 2024.
Projects backed in the second round of 2024:
- A Family (Mees Peijnenburg)
- Perfectly Imperfect (Appie Boudellah)
- Our Girls (Mike van Diem)
- Sjap & King (Mascha Halberstad)
- Amsterdamned II (Dick Maas)
- Behind the Green Curtain (Neasa Ní Chianáin)
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Anna van Keimpema)
- The Birthday Party (Miguel Angel Jiménez)
- Coup de Foudre (Indra Siera)
- The Souls (Tallulah Schwab)
- De Film van Rutger, Thomas & Paco (Hans Somers)
- Jackpot (Stephan Miras)
- King of the Wanderers (Janne Schmidt)
- Learning to Breathe Under Water (Rebekah Fortune)
- Olifantje in het Bos (Meikeminne Clinckspoor)
- Revenge (Jonathan Elbers)
- The Propagandist (Luuk Bouwman)
- The Squirrel (Markus Lehmusruusu)
- The Discounters: The Movie (Michael Middelkoop)
- The Winning Generation (Marco De Stefanis)
High-end TV-series backed in the second round of 2024:
- Máxima season 2 (Saskia Diesing, Joosje Duk, Roxanne Stam)
- Alpha 00 (Michiel van Jaarsveld)
- The Girl Who Learned How to Kneel (Hagai Levi)
- The Stay Behind (Thijs Bouman)
- Tatort - Days of Wrath (Hans Steinbichler)
Read more details about the backed projects below.
All projects backed by the Netherlands Film Production Incentive in the second round of 2024 are:
Film projects
A Family (feature film)
Director: Mees Peijnenburg
Script: Bastiaan Kroeger, Mees Peijnenburg
Dutch producer: Pupkin Film (hodn Juliet)
Co-producer: The Reunion (BE)
Logline: In A Family, brother Eli (14) and sister Nina (16) struggle to survive their parents' recent divorce. Separately and each in their own way, they try to shape their new world.
Granted support: € 625,375
Perfectly Imperfect (feature film)
Director Appie Boudellah
Script: Maikel Nijnuis
Dutch producer: AM Pictures
Logline: Perfectly Imperfect is a romantic drama about a young woman who was diagnosed infertile at a young age and now turns out to be pregnant. After having a miscarriage, she learns that she has never allowed love and always suppressed her desire to have children.
Granted support: € 450,176
Our Girls (feature film)
Director: Mike van Diem
Script: Mike van Diem
Dutch producer: Keplerfilm
Co-producers: Schubert Füm (AT), A Private View (BE), Nuts & Bolts Filmcompany (NL)
Logline: During a holiday in the Austrian Alps, the long-standing friendship between two couples spins way out of control when an accident involving their teenage daughters presents a heart-wrenching moral dilemma.
Granted support: € 576,853
Sjap & King (animated feature film)
Director: Mascha Halberstad
Script: Mieke de Jong
Dutch producer: Viking Film
Co-producer: A Private View (BE)
Logline: Sjap (8 years old) goes looking for his mother around Christmas. Only then, he discovers that his father, with whom he is good friends, is hiding something from him.
Granted support: € 1,180,689
Amsterdamned II (feature film)
Director: Dick Maas
Script: Dick Maas
Dutch producer: 2CFilm
Co-producers: Potemkino Port (BE), Parachute Pictures
Logline: The Amsterdam canals are once again the scene of a series of gruesome murders. Murders that evoke memories of the horrific events that gripped the city thirty years ago.
Granted support: € 623,234
Behind the Green Curtain (documentary)
Director: Neasa Ní Chianáin (IE)
Script: Neasa Ní Chianáin (IE)
Dutch co-producer: Docmakers
Lead producer: Soilsiu Teoranta (IE)
Co-producer: Clin d'oeil Films (BE)
Logline: The leader of Ireland’s Green Party has pursued the dream of climate justice for over thirty years. But Eamon Ryan’s dream now has twin streams, as family brings new meaning to his quest.
Granted support: € 46,293
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (feature film)
Director: Anna van Keimpema
Script: Karen van den Ende
Dutch producer: NewBe
Logline: When three former best college friends, one (too) crazy aunt, and one mistaken guest in the form of the bride-to-be's most boring colleague are forced together on a mandatory bachelorette outing, everything goes disastrously wrong.
Granted support: € 311,000
The Birthday Party (feature film)
Director: Miguel Angel Jiménez (ES)
Script: Miguel Angel Jiménez (ES), Giorgos Karnavas (GR)
Dutch co-producer: Lemming Film
Lead producer: Heretic (GR)
Co-producers: Fasten Films (ES), Rowdy Entertainment (UK)
Logline: The Birthday Party is set against the beautiful Mediterranean landscape and an extravagant birthday party. A ruthless multi-millionaire in charge of a business empire, will entirely lose his grip on any sense of right and wrong when he tries to control the lives of those around him whatever the cost, leading to a heartbreaking clash with his daughter.
Granted support: € 153,549
Coup de Foudre (feature film)
Director: Indra Siera (BE)
Script: Christophe Dirickx (BE)
Dutch co-producer: Phanta Film
Lead producer: Eyeworks Film & TV Drama (BE)
Logline: The intriguing Mrs. Dravet draws Albert into a fateful night. The secret they hide from each other will change their lives forever ...
Granted support: € 127,000
The Souls (feature film)
Director: Tallulah Schwab
Script: Gerry de Hoogh
Dutch producer: PRPL
Co-producer: Homeless Bob Production (EE)
Logline: After a hiking accident, city dweller Enzo (35) finds himself stuck on a remote farm, along with his girlfriend. This inconvenience turns into fright and wonder as Enzo becomes entangled with the farmer’s daughter and the farm starts to unleash its mysterious powers.
Granted support: € 360,000
De Film van Rutger, Thomas & Paco (feature film)
Director: Hans Somers
Script: Maarten van den Broek
Dutch producer: Blooming Film & TV
Logline: Rutger and Thomas must battle the evil Tiffy Woef, who cunningly kidnaps their beloved dog Paco and frames the boys as villains. Will Rutger and Thomas succeed in saving Paco and proving their innocence?
Granted support: € 289,398
Jackpot (feature film)
Director: Stephan Miras
Script: Zeynep Dülger, Stephan Miras
Dutch producer: Johan Nijenhuis & Co
Logline: Rico is a friendly good guy, enjoying life to the fullest with his wife and two kids. Nothing is too crazy since he won 100 million in the lottery 15 years ago, until the credit cards stop working.
Granted support: € 350,409
King of the Wanderers (feature film)
Director: Janne Schmidt
Script: Eveline Hagenbeek
Dutch producer: The Media Brothers
Co-producers: BarraMedia (NL), Lompvis (BE)
Logline: Meissy (11) discovers that her father Tom (37) is not travelling the world but is wandering around her home town. She wants to get to know him and to arrange her parents to be together again. Against her mother’s wishes she goes on adventures with Tom. Then he turns out to be a schizophrenic.
Granted support: € 392,595
Learning to Breathe Under Water (feature film)
Director: Rebekah Fortune (UK)
Script: Richard Brabin (UK)
Dutch co-producer: KeyFilm
Lead producer: Wildcard Film (IE)
Co-producer: Shudder Films (UK)
Logline: Eight-year-old Leo’s best friend is an 8m shark which his dad Peter, an artist, put on the roof of their house. Leo misses his mum and Peter misses his wife, but their new Bulgarian au pair Anya (28) isn’t either of those things – she’s a whole different kettle of fish. Leo’s unique perspectives bring humour, imagination, and an innocent charm to this off-beat comedy drama.
Granted support: € 149,192
Olifantje in het Bos (feature film)
Director: Meikeminne Clinckspoor
Script: Tijs van Marle, Meikeminne Clinckspoor
Dutch producer: Halal Scripted
Co-producer: DINGIE (BE)
Logline: When Ollie (6) and her sister Nim (11) lose their way on the way to a family party, Ollie feels very responsible for her big sister with Down. They have to arrive on time for their performance for their grandmother, but everything seems to be going wrong. Like a lost little elephant in the woods, Ollie learns that she doesn't have to do everything by herself. Sometimes she can also hold Nim's tail.
Granted support: € 654,206
Revenge (feature film)
Director: Jonathan Elbers
Script: Gerben Hetebrij, Thijs Römer (first draft)
Dutch producer: Jabadoo Holding
Co-producers: Tom de Mol Productions (NL), Interstellar Pictures (NL), Nu Boyana (BG)
Logline: Without forgiveness, war will never end.
Granted support: € 617,174
The Propagandist (documentary)
Director: Luuk Bouwman
Script: Luuk Bouwman
Dutch producer: Docmakers
Logline: By using family footage, propaganda films and audio interviews, this documentary tells the story of the rise and fall of filmmaker Jan Teunissen, ‘the Dutch Leni Riefenstahl’. A story about a wounded ego, opportunism and manipulation: timeless themes which resonate in the present.
Granted support: € 126,734
The Squirrel (feature film)
Director: Markus Lehmusruusu (FI)
Script: Markus Lehmusruusu (FI)
Dutch co-producer: Volya Films
Lead producer: Bufo (FI)
Co-producers: Pallas Film (DE), Zentropa Sweden (SE)
Logline: In a future without nature or animals Pasi, a lonely, kind-hearted synthetic animal designer accidentally discovers the last living squirrel in the world. Pasi decides to defy the rules and help the squirrel, but things don’t go quite as Pasi had planned – the squirrel becomes depressed, and Pasi falls in love.
Granted support: € 170,170
The Discounters: The Movie (feature film)
Director: Michael Middelkoop
Script: Manju Reijmer, Paul de Vrijer
Dutch producer: NL Film & TV
Logline: When young 'scammer' Silas (17) gets caught, he wants to repay everything to his victims. He is determined to earn it back through a part-time job, but nobody wants to hire him after the media circus. There is only one man who gives him a chance: Ruut. Silas becomes a discounter.
Granted support: € 368,058
The Winning Generation (documentary)
Director: Marco De Stefanis
Script: Marco De Stefanis
Dutch producer: Bind & Willink
Co-producer: EiE (IT)
Logline: Since he was 14 Shahen is involved in his family's fight for the independence of Armenia. Now at 23, he founded a political party. A coming-of-age story, in which Shahen's political fight runs parallel to his own independence from his family legacy.
Granted support: € 132,083
High-end TV-series
Máxima season 2 (drama series)
Director: Saskia Diesing, Joosje Duk, Roxanne Stam
Script: Rifka Lodeizen, Daan Gielis
Dutch producer: Millstreet Films
Logline: The second season begins with the highly anticipated wedding of Máxima and Willem-Alexander. At the end of the first season, we saw her winning over the public. But keeping the love from the people, turns out to be harder than earning it.
Granted support: € 1,950,229
Alpha 00 (drama series)
Director: Michiel van Jaarsveld
Script: Simon de Waal
Dutch producer: Horizon Film
Logline: Alpha 00 is a 6-part series delving into decisions revolving around life and death. It combines tension, psychology, and action under immense pressure, both physically and psychologically. It's a groundbreaking series focusing on the most extreme police cases in the Netherlands.
Granted support: € 922,074
The Girl Who Learned How to Kneel (drama series)
Director: Hagai Levi (IL)
Script: Hagai Levi (IL)
Dutch co-producer: Topkapi Films
Lead producer: Les Films du Poisson (FR)
Co-producer: Komplizen Serien (DE)
Logline: The poignant story of a young woman who finds meaning in her life in the middle of Nazi-occupied Holland.
Granted support: € 1,028,486
The Stay Behind (drama series)
Director: Thijs Bouman
Script: Thijs Bouman, Dajo Leunge, Demian van der Wekken
Dutch producer: Dark Alley Pictures
Logline: When eleven-year-old Sven cannot go, for the first time, on summer vacation because his mother is in debt, he meets the children left behind in the village who live in similar situations. Together they form a group of misfits who find solace in each other and escape the harsh reality of poverty through exciting adventures.
Granted support: € 539,308
Tatort – Days of Wrath (drama series)
Director: Hans Steinbichler (DE)
Script: Alexander Adolph (DE)
Dutch co-producer: Lemming Film
Lead producer: Nordfilm (DE)
Logline: In the idyllic border region between Germany and the Netherlands, Inspector Falke delves deep into the abyss of an international drug ring that puts not only his investigative methods but also his personal convictions to the test.
Granted support: € 424,486
