NLWave26 Unveils First Selected Projects

NLWave26 returns with a fresh, curated selection of upcoming feature films, documentaries and animation from the Netherlands. Following the successful inaugural 2025 edition of the Dutch film showcase, the first selections of this year’s edition headline new projects by Nina Gantz, Ena Sendijareviç and Renzo Martens. Each of these filmmakers brings a distinct voice and a strong track record, reflecting the depth and ambition of this year’s line-up.

Festival curators, sales agents and other international industry professionals are invited to meet both emerging and established talent and film professionals from across the Dutch industry and get an exclusive first look at the very best of Dutch projects, works-in-progress and completed works. The full line-up will be announced in August.

'Building on the success of NLWave25, we are thrilled to once again showcase Dutch film talent to the world", says Netherlands Film Fund CEO Iwana Chronis. “With bold and distinctive stories, both emerging and established filmmakers prove once more that there is a true wave of Dutch talent making its mark. We can't wait to share these original and ambitious film projects with the international industry!'

The Netherlands Film Fund, in close collaboration with SEE NL, will host the second edition of NLWave from 30 September to 2 October in Utrecht during the Netherlands Film Festival.

A glance at the first selections

BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee Nina Gantz, celebrated for her short Wander to Wonder, will pitch her animation project Once Upon an Egg.
Renzo Martens’ White Cube shook up the art and documentary worlds from its premiere in Lusanga to Palazzo Grassi in Venice. During NLWave26, he will present the long-awaited sequel Dawn of the Post Plantation.
Also among the confirmed projects are the feature filmsThe Possessed by Ena Sendijareviç and Tahmina by Aboozar Amini. The Possessed is Sendijareviç’ third feature and first English-language film; her previous feature, Sweet Dreams, premiered at the 2023 International Film Festival of Locarno. Afghan-Dutch director Amini, whose Persian-language documentary Kabul, City in the Wind opened at IDFA in 2018, will present his first narrative feature film, Tahmina.
Other selected documentary titles this year includeThe Return by Aliona van der Horst (known for Love Is Potatoes, selected for the International Competition in Leipzig 2017), We Had a Plan by Suzanne Raes (Close to Vermeer, which won the Special Jury Prize during GZDOC 2023) and Silent City by Menno Otten (The Sacrifice).

The 2025 pilot edition welcomed around 40 international guests to Utrecht, who spend two days discovering 45 Dutch titles. Alongside Berlinale 2026 selections Truly Naked, the feature debut of Muriel d’Ansembourg, and Mees Peijnenburg’s A Family, the inaugural edition also showcased Victoria Warmerdam’s feature-length adaptation of her 2025 Academy Award-winning short I’m Not a Robot, as well as Sven Bresser’s Cannes 2025 selection Reedland. Together, these titles made a compelling case for the strength and diversity of contemporary Dutch cinema.