At The International Butler Academy in Simpelveld, The Netherlands, students from all over the world and of all ages are taught the tricks of the butler trade. The film follows six students during their training. What motivates them to choose this servile profession?
In the eight-part series Allah in Europe, Jan Leyers is looking for the face of Islam in Europe. Is there such a thing as a European, enlightened version of Islam growing and is that what Muslims themselves want?
A series of eight episodes documenting 250.000 years of history. Charles Groenhuijsen takes us along sights and locations that historically harbored various inhabitants of ‘The Lowlands’. In what today is known as The Netherland, Belgium, Germany, New York, Ghana, Surinam, and Indonesia, Charles will be looking for the stories of ‘our’ past through potsherds, bones, stones, ancient text's, drawings, paintings, pictures, radio, and tv- fragments
"From Moscow to Murmansk is a documentary about a journey through Russia. Jelle Brandt Corstius speaks to Russian citizens during this journey to find answers about the Russian soul."
Paulien Cornelissen, who studied in Japan years ago, goes back to examine the land of the rising sun. Each episode's theme is a unique, almost translatable word from the Japanese language.
Breathtaking natural beauty, tolerant, safe and prosperous. That is the picture we have of Canada in the Netherlands. But is it really that paradisical, or does Trudeau's country know how to put on a mask of civility? Writer Emy Koopman travels in Paradise Canada from Vancouver to Montreal and looks at the problems brewing beneath the surface. The series delves into all the urgent themes of our time and examines the state of Canada with racism and gender equality, migration, climate change and the welfare state. Emy Koopman speaks to famous Canadian intellectuals such as Charles Taylor, Margaret Atwood and Jordan Peterson.
China is playing an increasingly important role worldwide. Under President Xi Jinping, substantial investments are being made in communication and cooperation and industrious Chinese people are settling abroad in large numbers. Documentary maker and China expert Ruben Terlou visits them in the new VPRO travel series ‘The World of the Chinese’. Who are they, what do they want to achieve and what impact does their presence have on the local population?