Claire Pijman

In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.

Good Morning, Karachi is the story of a young girl (Amna Ilyas) who wants to be a model while struggling towards her dream against the backdrop of the Benazir Bhutto assassination.

From homosexual penguins and sex-transitioning fish to pregnant male seahorses and sexually dominant female bonobos, thousands of species defy our expectations of gender and sexuality. Director Drew Denny takes the nature documentary to a whole new level in this eye-opening and entertaining expedition to the places David Attenborough overlooks, where giant duck penises and corkscrew vaginas take center stage. Debunking myths that females are “inferior” and being queer is somehow “unnatural,” Second Nature explores the 1500+ animal species that engage in same-sex sexual behavior and parenting, change sex, form matriarchies, and more.

For her extraordinary film essay, Living the Light, Director and Director of Photography Claire Pijman had access to the thousands of Hi8 video diaries, pictures and Polaroids that Müller photographed while he was at work on one of the more than 70 features he shot throughout his career; often with long term collaborators such as Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch and Lars von Trier. The film intertwines these images with excerpts of his oeuvre, thus creating a fluid and cinematic continuum. In his score for Living the Light Jim Jarmusch gives this wide raging scale of life and art an additional musical voice.

Pakistani director Sabiha Sumar and Indian actor Kalki Koechlin take an inspiring and stunning transnational journey through India and Pakistan, uncovering the common humanity beyond the divisive political rhetoric.

In FEAST, perpetrators, victims and their spectators become involved in a dramatic reconstruction of the Groningen HIV case. The film tells a story about power and surrender, the reversibility of truth and the desire to come home somewhere.

An elderly actress arrives at her holiday home in Bretagne to prepare for a new film. She brings with her numerous scrapbooks and countless film memorabilia. With a personal oeuvre of more than fifty films, the past and present sometimes intertwine. Images of the woman in her beach house mirror images from her films, and images from films intertwine with events from her own life. When a young cyclist breaks down near the house, he challenges the actress to dig deeper into her past. They spend a compact day together. Every question, every image, every article triggers a memory for the woman.

A film about third-generation artists with Indonesian roots who embrace their cultural heritage in their work. Director Claire Pijman portrays Nusantara Beat, the popular band that sings in Bahasa Indonesia and Sundanese. Vanja van der Leeden, a culinary artist who looks beyond the ‘rijsttafel’. Myrthe Groot & Romee Mulder of fashion atelier Guave, who design clothing made from batik. And Sekan, DJ / photographer / founder of record label Jiwa2, who is putting Indonesian pop music from the ’70s and ’80s back on the map. All artists collaborate with artists from Indonesia, allowing the viewer to also be taken into present-day Indonesia.

In the remote valleys of the Hindu Kush live the Kalash people, the smallest ethnic minority in Pakistan. With a distinct culture and polytheistic religion, they are said to be descendants of Alexander the Great’s troops. But modern life is reaching their valleys and their culture and way of live is under threat.

After his mothers death, 12-year-old Jaya (Iqbal S. Manurung) is sent to his father, Johar (Didi Petet), who works as a supervisor on a jermal (a fishing platform perched on log stilts in the middle of the sea). Johar is shocked, never knowing he has a son, and rejects the boy as his kin. Fully aware he cant bring Jaya back to land due to a dark past, Johar is forced to accept the boy as a worker on the site. Faced with constant rejection from his father and relentless bullying by the other boys who work on the jermal, Jaya decides to take fate into his own hands. He gives up hope on being accepted and learns the skills and attitude needed to survive on the jermal. Jaya increasingly becomes like the other boys: a tough, rough survivor; while Johar is forced to gradually face and accept his past. Eventually, both Johar and Jaya learn that they are bound by their past, united by the space in which they move, and connected by the inescapable truth.

Izzy slowly realises that she doesn’t want to admit to societal expectations anymore.

In their practice, lawyers Klaartje Freeke and Wikke Monster strive to make the criminal justice system more humane. They encourage their clients not to focus solely on guilt and the sentence imposed, but also to consider the impact of what happened and their feelings about it. In every session, they seek to help their clients experience the benefits of looking not only at others, but also, and especially, at themselves.

The importance of the Atelier as a meeting and working-place for independent or beginning filmmakers is highlighted in Last days of Studio Frans van de Staak a necrology of his films by Kees Hin (2002), which focuses mainly on Van de Staak's non-naturalistic style of directing actors.

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"Talking Guitars" is an intimate portrait of master guitar craftsman, Flip Scipio. The behind-the-scenes music-documentary illustrates the fascinating juxtaposition of the quiet artist and the world of musicians who seek his expertise. His clients include Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Ben Taylor, Paul Simon, David Tronzo, Leni Stern and Carly Simon. It is claimed that Flip "can make the worst piece of sh*t sing". For himself "Music is like Esperanto"; a universal language.

Mother of Claire Pijman moves to Amsterdam after her husband’s death to be closer to her daughters and grandchildren. Claire and her sister try to combine the care of their mother with their work. When her mother’s dementia becomes more and more apparent, nursing home seems inevitable. This end turns into a farewell story that goes back and forth between conscience, guilt, and powerlessness…

Director Claire Pijman portrays her father Boy Pijman who was born in the Dutch East Indies. When his children ask, Boy Pijman tells his story that he had never spoken about before; his three years as a prisoner of war in Japanese Camp during the Second World War.

Single mothers Anulawathi, Thushari and Jega drive tuk-tuks to earn money to support their families. In Sri Lanka, most drivers are men, but these women are breaking the mold for the sake of their children's futures.

Short dance film with animation elements about an auditorium in which the audience is enjoying a dance performance. The show has such an impact on the audience of riggid puppets that it seems to start dancing itself.

In the summer of 2005, Piet Oomes went to Sumatra with his mother Ank and his aunt Guus, to look for the Japanese concentration camps where the two had been interned with their mother in World War II. During the trip, it becomes clear that the filmmaker is mainly making a personal quest: for an explanation of the reserved relationship he has with his mother. The camera registers the collisions the two have been having for forty years. 'I keep my mouth shut', mother Ank spews in a rare outburst of emotions. Their digging in the past brings tears to the eyes of Piet's aunt, but his mother only makes rational analyses. Eventually, their visit to the site of the last camp, Aek Pamingke, which has now been replaced by rubber plantation, brings about a long-awaited breakthrough - though the tears are kept back even then.