Still: Mirage - Naima Karim

Among the selected works is Mirageby Dutch filmmaker and producer Naima Karim. This interactive Virtual Reality experience follows a young girl battling depression and anxiety, using a haptic vest and noise-cancelling headphones to create an immersive and deeply personal experience.

Dutch co-productions are also prominently featured in the programme. A Long Goodbyeby Kate Voet and Victor Maes will screen as an Australasia premiere. This immersive documentary explores the experience of dementia through the eyes of a 72-year-old pianist. The project is a Dutch co-production by Valk Productions.

Also screening at the festival is Kabul, Between Prayers, directed by Dutch-Afghan filmmaker Aboozar Amini, has also been selected. Produced by Silk Road Film Salon, the documentary follows conflicted Taliban soldier Samim and his innocent younger brother Rafi, who is on the cusp of indoctrination.

Music and memory take centre stage in Half Moon, the latest documentary by renowned Dutch filmmaker Frank Scheffer. Premiering in Australasia, the film follows Syrian musicians Kinan Azmeh and Dima Orsho as they reclaim and reimagine Syria’s cultural memory through music, love and artistic resilience. The documentary was produced by Selfmade Films.

The Dutch presence is completed by the world premiere of Feather Strength, directed by New Zealand–Dutch filmmaker Jon Earle, who is based in the Netherlands. Filmed over the course of a decade, the documentary offers an intimate and deeply personal account of a father caring for a child with severe developmental challenges. Through self-recorded observations of daily life, the film becomes a moving reflection on care, endurance and the strength required to adapt to an unexpected future.

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