Still: Love-22-Love - Jeroen Kooijmans

In “Newsweek Psychologia” Award for the Best Film on Psychology competition, My Word Against Mine* by director Maasja Ooms has been selected. Produced by Cerutti Film, the documentary offers a fascinating insight into the lives of voice hearers who decide to listen to the enemy in their heads. The film had its premiere at IDFA in Amsterdam, where it won the Best Dutch Film Award. 

Also featured in the competition is Love-22-Love* directed by Jeroen Kooijmans, produced by Submarine. A love story between filmmaker Jeroen Kooijmans and his wife Elspeth Diederix. Jeroen has been dealing with depression and psychoses, of which he is ashamed. He tries to overcome his demons through his work as an artist, but they keep returning to haunt him. The documentary also premiered at IDFA 2025. 

In the All Eyes on Palestine program is House of Hope* by Marjolein Busstra. Produced by 100% Docs and with sales handled by First Hand Films, the film centers on Manar, who runs a pacifist Waldorf school in the occupied West Bank. Amid escalating violence and uncertainty, she is determined to create a safe environment for young children. Earlier this month, the documentary was awarded Hot Docs Best International Feature Documentary.

Two short documentaries are showcased in the Short Film Competition:
In How to Catch a Butterfly, Dutch-Japanese filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus explores the mutual roots of obsession between her and a shooter who killed 8 Asian women within Atlanta massage parlours. What do our racial fetishes tell us about our hidden human desires? The Docmakers production world premiered at the SXSW International Film Festival in Austin. 

City of Poets* by director Sara Rajaei, produced by near/by film, unfolds the story of a semi-utopian city where every street is named after a poet. As war erupts, new neighbourhoods are built to house refugees, and sweeping social changes leave the city’s residents lost in memories of forgotten poets. It world premiered in the Berlinale Shorts Competition 2025, followed by international festival selections including Hong Kong International Film Festival, Vienna Shorts, FIPADOC, among many others, and in January, the European Film Academy announced Rajaei’s short as the winner of the European Short Film – Prix Vimeo 2026.

Another short is selected in the Short Film Online program is Dreams for a Better Past directed by Albert Kuhn and coproduced by Idle Eye.  Kuhn investigates his father’s silence and fragmented family history, weaving archives, letters, and memory into a cinematic search for how unspoken stories echo through generations. Sales and festival distribution are handled by Marvin & Wayne. It was honoured with a Special Mention in the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary. 

Two Dutch minority co-productions are competing in the Grand Prix Bank Millenium Award competition. Mariinka by Pieter-Jan De Pue (NL co-prod. Submarine), which opened and debuted at CPH:DOX. And Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest* by Viv Li, which is also presented in the “Newsweek Psychologia” Award for the Best Film on Psychology competition. The co-production with 100% Docs and with international sales handled by Mediawan was previously selected for the Berlinale, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, and Visions du Réel.

Find out more about Millenium Docs Against Gravity here.

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