Anne Verhoeven

Desire torments a former cultist taking refuge at the home of a scantily clad woman whose husband is away.

Three erotic stories from classic writers Marguerite de Navarre, Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne and Guy de Maupassant.

A 40-year-old architect begins to doubt his role as a father in a world sliding into decadence. When he meets a young Polish girl he runs off with her to Rhodes. His psycho-moralistic angst is presented in a series of flashbacks when the hijack of his airplane forces him to take stock of his life.

A tale centered on the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 where the Flemish rank and file won a major victory over the glorious French knights.

Late 16th century, persecuted protestantism and general dissatisfaction with the Catholic Habsburg rule in the Netherlands lead to large-scale plundering and vandalizing of churches, only harshening the Spanish Inquisition, sparkling the Eighty Years War.

A Palestinian seeks Israeli permission to waive curfew to give his son a fine wedding. The military governor's condition is that he and his officers attend. The groom berates his father for agreeing. Women ritually prepare the bride; men prepare the groom. Guests gather. The Arab youths plot violence. One Israeli officer swoons in the heat and Arab women take her into the cool house. A thoroughbred gets loose and runs to a mined field; soldiers and Arabs must cooperate to rescue it. As darkness falls, tensions between army and villagers rise, and the groom's wedding-night anger and impotence threaten family dignity and honor. Can cool heads prevail?

An older film critic's life is interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

Thomas, in his forties, holds an important post in a slaughterhouse. He is engaged to Marie-Rose, the daughter of the director, whom he hopes to follow later. In a routine examination in the hospital, however, he finds out that he has cancer and his days are counted. The upheaval that he suffers as a result, however, does not take long, his decision is certain: he will use the short time to clean up some bad guys. What else can he do now?

The antiques shop Gerard owns should help him to get rid of his financial problems. He dreams of writing the most important Dutch novel ever. Unfortunately he spends money like water. As a result he is constantly broke. His sister Ingrid is married to Pierre. She wants a child but he refuses. While Gerard is willing to consider leading a normal life, a wish mainly expressed by his parents, Ingrid's marriage falls apart.

The full title of this Dutch film is Pervola: Tracks in the Snow. A stockbroker moves away from his home village of Pervola and puts his two sons in charge of his business. Older brother Hein (Bram van der Vlugt) cheats younger brother Simon (Gerard Thoolen) out of his share, claiming that Simon was disinherited because he is homosexual. Hein grows powerful, while Simon seems to weaken with each passing day. Flash-forward several years: the dying stockbroker calls his sons to his side. Faithful Simon agrees to dad's wishes that he be buried in Pervola, but Hein doesn't want to go to the trouble of transporting the body; he finally agrees to help Simon, out of fear that his brother will learn of his long-ago treachery. While arduously journeying to Pervola with the father's body strapped to a sled, Hein inadvertently confesses; Simon, however, is of strong enough moral fibre to forgive his brother.

When his father dies a young man has the choice to continue the farmwork of his old man who suffered because of the hard labour and all the regulations.

The 6th short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. Featuring demonstrations of magic lanterns by children.

The 2nd short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. In the 18th and 19th centuries, optical views were shown in optical boxes with magnifying lenses. The showmen organised a real spectacle, with a barker, music and sound effects. The views played with light (transparencies, perforations). A series of engravings shows the public's enthusiasm for these shows. The second part of the film is a reconstruction of such a show. First, there are views of Paris, Venice, Constantinople and Versailles, followed by various disasters: plague, floods, fires and shipwrecks.