Digna Sinke

From the filmmaker's perspective, we follow the process of a possible feature film about a photographer (Lea) tasked with capturing the energy transition in Amsterdam's harbor area. This brings up a flood of memories and associations. What do you do with what hasn't gone well in your life? How well can you know someone dear to you? Filmmaker and character turn out to coincide more and more during the process.

Unrelenting pessimism dominates this slow-paced, dark film, the debut feature from director Digna Sinke dedicated to an archetypal born loser named Marian (Josee Ruiter). Marian is a journalist who has been working in Latin America and who arrives home just after her father dies to find out that the man she had married for purely political reasons might be deported because the authorities found out he was not living with her. Meanwhile, Marian is upset that her mother and sister are keeping her mentally handicapped brother in an institution, and she goes there to get him released into her custody -- a mistake it turns out. He is actually worse off with her, and vice-versa. On top of everything, Marian cannot break away from the depression she feels over a tragic incident that happened while she was in Latin America -- and anything she does is colored by that moment from the past. These burdens become almost too much to bear, both for Marian and the viewers.

A young couple employed by a pet crematorium finds fulfilment in respectfully removing cadavers. Their love blossoms in an environment where the boundaries between human and animal are fading. When they hit a stray dog, their relationship starts to derail.

A biography of Isabelle de Charrière and her friendship with Benjamin Constant.

The highway in the Netherlands has a total length of almost 2500 kilometres. There is almost no other country with such an enormous highway density. In this documentary the monumentality, but also the apparent everydayness of our highway is shown. The highway is actually a poorly known arena for a wide range of activities. What does this monumental and almost perfect network say about us?

Shy, thirteen year old Xenia doesn't feel comfortable in the overly-regulated society she lives in. In search of a place for herself she discovers an island on which time doesn't seem to exist. This is where she finds the key to her future.

In a drought-struck region in India, suffering from climate change and a high suicide rate amongst farmers, a group of resilient women farmers, who recently lost their husbands, is coming together with a local psychologist to learn counselling and help others in grief.

Six people are about to undertake a journey by foot from the very north of the Netherlands to the very south, in search of the mountains. Only two of them reach the destination.

How do you deal with the fact that someone close to heart has suddenly disappeared without a trace? Can you go on living whilst waiting for his return?

The story of those Italian women who, for eighty years, have fought against power in all its forms.

In 2024, the iconic Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Gerrit Rietveld designed and built the house in close collaboration with his secret lover and creative partner Truus Schröder. Rietveld himself did not build his houses for eternity; he thought a life cycle of 50 years was sufficient. But the current owners of houses designed by Rietveld think differently about this. They pull out all the stops to renovate and preserve their Rietveld houses.

Over the years, filmmaker Jan Bosdriesz collected curious souvenirs from various countries that he cherishes. He wonders about their history. Among his favourite items are the Russian LPs by Pyotr Leschenko from the 1930s that he once inherited from his father. While Bosdriesz travels to Russia to learn more about the life of the singer whose music was forbidden in Soviet Russia, the turbulent history of the filmmaker's family is also addressed. During his trip, Bosdriesz talks to people who knew Leschenko.

On a train crossing Tanzania, a rolling microcosm of East African society, we follow three main characters, reflecting on the strength to survive.

In The State of the Grass, the battle that people are waging with their lawn is portrayed. We see that battle through the eyes of a hedgehog and a magpie. The magpie will mainly observe the people from above or from a distance and the hedgehog, on the other hand, sits close to it, scurrying through the plants. The people who will be observed are everyday people who want to have a perfect lawn. They constantly have to overcome new obstacles in their search for the perfect grass. Through the eyes of the magpie and the hedgehog we experience their frustrations. But also the passion that people feel or the satisfaction when they have solved a problem.

No description available.

One night in the trenches during the Spanish Civil War, Joan Brossa heard a voice call his name. He didn't see anyone and walked towards where he thought the sound came from. A moment later, a shell hit the ground where he had just been standing. From that moment on, Brossa wanted to be a poet.

Wistful Wilderness

On the island Tiengemeten, thirteen miles south of Rotterdam as the crow flies, all roads come to a dead end. Behind the dykes is water and wilderness. Here, among these dykes on 1700 acres of fertile land, director Digna Sinke filmed from 1996 how Tiengemeten is intended to become a stretch of wild nature, as part of a conservation plan. This is easier said than done. Alternative land with living accommodations has to be provided for six farming families. This comes through for five, but not for Leen Vos. Sinke also filmed how project groups regularly come and take a look and call meetings. Tiengemeten will be divided into three sections: Wistfulness, Wilderness and Wealth. However, nobody knows how the plan will work out. The negotiators allow farmer Leen Vos to stay until 2007. Until that time, the project cannot be carried out. Sinke just keeps filming, in her restrained, observant style, devoted to the magnificent scenery.

When her relationship flounders, a young woman returns to the village where she was born, on an island in Zeeland. She had hoped that getting into a regular habit, having coffee and tea with her aunt, would bring her some peace – but pretty soon she’s had enough of the stultifying atmosphere. The village of Zonnemaire is no longer how she remembers it. Sinke shot this film in the village where she herself grew up. The unaffected acting and attention to detail with which the day-to-day activities of Rina's uncle and aunt are depicted give the film an almost documentary feel.

The only constant in life is change – and that applies to the Amsterdam harbour as well. As part of the energy transition, public authorities decided in 2019 to close down the coal-fired power station. This meant that a landmark on the Amsterdam skyline – Hemweg 8’s smokestack – would disappear.