The Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest), located between Amstelveen and Schiphol, was constructed during the years of economic crisis. In 1934, Amsterdam had 50,000 unemployed residents, who were put to work on the project as part of a government relief scheme. Annette Apon made this short documentary about the creation of the Amsterdamse Bos for the Amsterdams Stadsjournaal.
Hadassah Kahn

A short animated documentary exploring the immigration experience through the eyes of children learning how to swim with clothes on in the Netherlands.
2025

Bruin has a new mission: to become a superstar, just like his idol Michael Jackson. Although singing is not his greatest talent, he starts - supported by friends and colleagues - to build a music career.
2024

Frans Bromet follows scoot drivers of different ages about their lives. He talks to them about what has changed since they got a mobility scooter, about how their living space has increased, about the limitations of the vehicle and about what is and is no longer possible in private.
2024

Presents a day in the life in Amsterdam, a city in transformation, captured shortly after the turn of the millennium, and shortly before the digital revolution would speed up the pace of life considerably. Shot in a fly-on-the-wall style.
2021

The Show Must Go On is a personal journey behind the scenes that confronts the epidemic of mental health issues in the Australian entertainment industry.
2019

A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.
1989

Private-sector rented accommodation for the Surinamese and Antillean Dutch who increasingly moved to Amsterdam from these former colonies in the early seventies was woefully inadequate. In 1982, André Reeder graduated from The Netherlands Film Academy (NFTVA) with Onderneming onderdak (The Price of Shelter) – a documentary about this appalling situation.

Pak Mokum Terug is the name of a group of Amsterdam activists that refuse to accept that the basic right to housing no longer appears to apply. The group’s name means “Take Back Amsterdam,” Mokum being the traditional nickname for a capital city in which today, for more and more people, a home is becoming unaffordable. Against this background, Hotel Mokum reports on the squatting of a dilapidated hotel in the city center, narrated in the voice of a fictitious activist.
2024

Though the recession officially ended in summer 2009, the fallout continues for some 25 million unemployed and underemployed Americans, many of whom worked their way up the corporate ladder..
2012

Documentary about four maffia-like friends based in Amsterdam.
2010

With the energy of the dying, those in power apply themselves to reasserting the value of work – with force, if need be. But more and more workers have understood that, to truly value their work, they have to do without it. They also have to get rid of the society of consumption that goes along with it. It may not be easy, but it is certainly amusing. We present a panorama of a mass desertion destined to spread.
2003
Documentary film about four families in Pori, Finland, all struggling with unemployment and poverty.
1999

This is Amsterdam, the city of pleasure. Where there's a front, there's also a back. This documentary captures the bizarre adventures of Yuji Kitano and his undergarment-clad companion, Tsubaki, over roughly one month, primarily in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Neither husband and wife nor lovers, this odd couple infiltrates various hair-raising danger zones in a foreign land, gets involved with shady characters, and somehow ends up attending secret parties... 90 minutes of cold sweat, laughter, and shock.
1999

Partially staged documentary by Barbara den Uyl investigates the case of Hans Kok, the squatter who was found dead in an Amsterdam police cell in October 1985.
1991

The recession of the 1980s split the country into the haves and have-nots, from family farmers to factory workers and homeless people forced to live in decrepit welfare hotels. On the verge of losing everything, courageous Americans discover the power of community organizing to fight injustice.
1986
1985

The film follows two colourful labour brokers, young Toon and old Toon. They speak candidly about their dubious practices and come across as surprisingly likeable. Yes, they profit from exploiting workers — but those workers are often more than willing to go along with the system. Ultimately, De koppelbazen asks who is truly responsible for these questionable practices.
1978

Bas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.
1970

Rhythmic composition of moving photographs of cyclists in Amsterdam, ‘set’ to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
1965

First film by Pim de la Parra, about a young Surinamese man in Amsterdam who delivers a “monologue interior” about his dissatisfaction with society and his position as an outsider.
1963