Leen van den Berg

Het woord heeft mij gered

'I can't remember the day my dreams started, but I know when my nightmares did.' These are the words of Rodaan Al Galidi, writer, poet, asylum seeker. Years ago, he fled his native Iraq and got locked up for years in various Dutch refugee centres. When his request for asylum is turned down, he goes into hiding in a student room. He keeps poems there that he wrote in Iraq and new, Dutch texts for which he has meanwhile won several awards. Rodaan turns out to be both a charming and melancholy man. He candidly talks about his life, his inspirations and passions.

Morocco Swings

Two generations of Moroccan female vocalists meet in a masterclass in Amsterdam. The first generation is represented by Najat Aatabou, a famous star throughout the Arab world and a strikingly emancipated woman. The second generation is represented by four Dutch singers of Moroccan origins. They are young and talented, but all of them have problems gaining recognition and with their own identity. In the first instance, the confrontation with Najat Aatabou only seems to increase their struggle; yet this initial encounter is followed by a liberating happy ending. Najat Aatabou ran away from home so she could become a singer. How far is her life story repeated among young Moroccan/Dutch vocalists? How difficult is it to live between two cultures? Does music help encourage emancipation? In this swinging film, the film maker seeks answers to these questions.

The Shadow Walkers

Tragicomedy about two brothers who married two sisters, walking the streets of Deventer at night lamenting the fact that each should have married the other one's wife.

Where the Rats Are King

Once, the Staatsliedenbuurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam was an autonomous state for squatters, punks and the original inhabitants who united in the 'Woongroep Staatsliedenbuurt'. The city council's authority had eroded to virtually nothing after years of failing housing policy. The neighbourhood took matters into its own hands, which became painfully apparent when Amsterdam's mayor Van Thijn was roughly kicked out of the area at the close of 1984.