Bert Haanstra was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a short film about his own country. It had to be a piece of the work that mainly would be shown abroad, so that the rest of the world could make acquaintance with the beautiful countryside, with the modern side of the Dutch society and with historic building and old customs. After everything he had already made about these subjects, Haanstra was able to find a new angle, this time by observing the matter from the air. The result is a pretty mosaic of The Netherlands like it looked in the early eighties.
When a dedicated jockey finds that the local politicians are not to be trusted and begins to feel his romance with a beautiful woman slowly slipping away, his last-ditch effort to risk it all for his trusted horse Palomo shows that sometimes animals are truly man's best friend.
Set in Hamburg's “Hell's Kitchen,” a waterfront milieu of gangsters, pimps, dealers and prostitutes, the story follows the attempts of an ex-seaman first to insinuate himself into the scene, and then to extricate himself from it.
A guy picks up a girl hitchhiking and starts making advances to her to sleep with her, albeit with the ruse of offering to do a photo shoot so that she can succeed as a model.
A lift technician finds himself drawn into a web of mystery and peril as he investigates the perplexing deadly accidents occurring in the elevators of a new office building.
Traveling through villages along the Nicaraguan-Honduran border, the filmmakers document the impact of the covert war against Nicaragua's Sandinista government, featuring interviews with mercenaries, soldiers, spies and civilian victims.
The story of a novice teacher who manages to win over not only her students but also her colleagues. Through her activity and dedication, she manages to ensure the completion of a gymnasium that has been under construction for 3 years.
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Have you watched The Netherlands yet? What did you think about it?
