"In our neighborhood, lives a rooster. In our neighborhood, lives a sadist slaying rooster!" With these first words, Syrian writer and poet Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani recites the journey of a dictator rising to power.

Carmen, has just won a dance competition, she is holding the prize in her hands. She is exhausted, but happy, it has been worth the effort. She walks home, she just wants to show off her prize and let her family know that she has succeeded this time. She is so happy she can't even feel her own feet. But someone is following her. She realizes too late, it's too close. Carmen has to run, hide and defend herself. She'll never get home, she doesn't need to prove anything to anyone, not anymore. "Footsteps" proposes a poetic look at violence against women based on a physical investigation of Argentinean folkloric traditions and their replication in modern times.

Siren is a short story of a curse. The central figure’s heightened state of danger blooms into ecstasy, disgust and rage. What happens when we yield to our fear?

As the Call, So the Echo follows a young woman in conflict with her inner demons. How does she reckon with her unknown self?

Millennial Eva is looking for a way to escape her daily struggles. The nightlife can give her the anonymity she needs to finally surrender to the moment. Will she get carried away by the flow of the beat? Can she disappear into the crowd without losing herself?

Blue Funk charts the physicality of being afraid. As chain reaction, fear settles over its targets, exposing their innate sentient responses of freeze, fight, fawn, and flight. The resulting cacophony evokes the volatility of this moment in time, a mounting pressure edging towards its breaking point.

Through a feminist lens, Wiaam from Syria and Orian from Israel seek to examine alternative methods of protest against occupation, racism and violence in current Israel. They grapple with the decision of whether to leave or stay, take action or remain home.

Mathilde is a short film based in parts of the 19th century novel 'A Love Story' by Dutch author Lodewijk van Deyssel. Mathilde is estranged from herself and her surroundings by a long-term illness. She is advised to go and live in the countryside for a while. One evening she comes out of her lethargy and has a breakthrough.

Sininen (The Blue) is a fairytale fantasy of a bird-like figure in the embrace of the forest. The central character of the film has evolved over the years as Vappu has searched for her power figure through dance and movement. The film depicts gentle strength and magical skills, independence and a self-directed ability to create life, meaning and encounters around her. Each of us has something unique to pass on. The script was written together with the performers and choreographed by Vappu Virkkula.

Branches asks how our lives could differ based on a single decision or encounter. Drawing on director Masumi's experience as a minority and immigrant to the UK, we examine how the environment and society shape us. Exploring neuroses and fears through the multiverse, viewers will ponder how choices in life topple like dominoes. We present opportunities for viewers to reflect on their lives in our post-COVID information-oriented society, which fragments our ideology.

Little Movement is a short dance film in which six patients with Huntington's disease are portrayed in a dream-like space where time is suspended. An intimate choreography shows us their positive energy, zest for life and resilience in their vulnerable and fragile existence.

Ngày Mới’ (A new day has come), is a poetic visual response to the new track “Ngày Mới” of Vietnam-based electronic band Tiny Giant. The film depicts a world in constant motion that opens up when we slumber. Cavernous darkness is a habitat of transit, between worlds and the axis of time. In the heart of this motion, memories, knowledge, sadness and joy will leave their residues without completely disappearing: perhaps they have fallen into another place, another turning of time. The moment of transit in the cave doubles as both childhood and adulthood come to the surface in sync, where we bend closer in proximity to the inner child, the taste of a spoonful of innocence lingering on the tongue. Deity-like characters also appear in the video. They are gods of the filmmaker’s own world turned into images, as any person can have their own interpretation of a god. In this film, God is understood as a provider of support and company, and trust is a form of custody. We trust in the things that can protect and guide us. The eyeless horses, then, appear as mascots and attachment figures that walk with the children towards the world.

Part of the choreography was initially inspired by the ‘Kitsune Wedding’ scene in ‘Dreams’ – a film by Akira Kurosawa, in combination with experimental hip hop moves and the krumping stomps, choreographed and performed by Saigon-based dancer Kim from La Différence Saigon and Hanoi-based dancer Quay Trần from Abnormal Conceptz.

Whether it's running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or simply making it through a difficult day, endurance is what enables people to persist and succeed. A film about the power of perseverance and resilience and a testament to the idea that with hard work, determination, and the inherent drive to keep going despite adversity, anything is possible.

A park. Two bodies dance looking for the exit. Through the tour they find fantastic and real situations. The movement will carry them forward into the next age. A labyrinthine passage from Dance in the Park.

Mimeisthai is an experimental screendance that responds to Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘mimetic faculty’, which is, the ability to perceive and/or reproduce similarity. This generic skill is possessed by all living things and finds expression on various levels, from the biological to the behavioral; such as in reproduction or camouflage, to the myriad ways that creatures communicate.

In Mimeisthai movements are shared, copied and repeated between performers both on and off-screen, and then amplified across multiple frames. Through duplication, repetition, and layering multiple exposures, this work explores the mimetic faculty of dance and digital video.

Around its own axis showcases the infinite, repetitive rhythm of the automated Dutch agricultural landscape. Machines perform a dance, while choreographer Pauline Roelants, in the language of her profession, guides the viewer through the scenes. Thus, the silences and tranquility of the landscapes, interacting with the impulsive actions and mistakes of the machine, become an integral part of the choreography.

Faces of Passing Love is a film that mourns for past lovers through obsolete technology: a repeatedly projected slideshow, where eyes open, mouths whisper, tears linger.

Rowin, a 22-year-old fisherman from Banda Abou (Curaçao) has little luck catching fish at his fishing spot. He goes there everyday despite the disapproval of his mother. One day, on the coastline where he fishes daily, he encounters a mysterious young man who will change everything.

This film is part of the online program but accessible only in the Netherlands and until the 25th March.

A figure transitions between two realities: An external material one - in which they are subjected to increasing levels of social interaction - picking up ‘human’ traits as they go. And an internal fluid one - in which they are able to seek refuge to be and feel themselves.

EXT. is centred around the experience of someone trying to figure out what it is to be ‘human’. The film is a reference to our experiences as social animals and the often absurd evolution we go through, to adapt to society.

It also references gender exploration - the journey of an initially gender neutral character, that is increasingly nudged to conform to a binary - in order to fit in - and their escape to a fluid space, devoid of expectations and norms.

The film uses movement instead of dialogue as a means of expression and follows the protagonist on their awkward journey through different surroundings, like an avatar in a computer game.

On a 5-day hike from the Seriana to the Brembana Valley in Italy, a character is in search of answers but doesn’t pose any questions. A speculative dance documentary reflecting on the relationship between human and mountain, as material entity and as idea.

Two bodies emerge, one of flesh and one of metal. Both are cautious of, yet compelled towards each other. This evolves into a game of hide and seek. Can friendship truly form or will we always be stuck in a limbo of a human vs machine narrative? ?!%$&#@$^()}!@#|%>? is a cry to connect, to be seen by each other and come together. Singaporean filmmaker Clare Chong and movement artist Sonia Kwek are working for the first time with the Bolt, a high-speed camera robot.

Four dancers, one choreographic score, one poem, one camera, one angle, three takes and no edits. Dog Cloud explores the subtle interplay between structure, chance and the human desire for finding patterns and stories.

We are transported into a dream-like state in which we do not run, but dance. The original music composed by Echo Collective takes us on a journey through landscapes where time disappears and we are drawn into nature.

A building is in constant development, it’s enlivened, used, worn out, decaying. Bodies leave traces in buildings. Buildings leave their mark on us. Decay does not necessarily end in dust that we gently sweep away. In and so I'll go the carpet of an old furniture showroom becomes the grid of various accumulative micro plots and intimate dances.

Who are these entities of abandonment? They have never seen the light and a simple lightning strike awakens the hope of escaping from confinement.

Noora is a dance short film that follows Noora's movement. She is a dancer. Her body's impulses are generated in the moment from contact with different environments. Noora has congenital bone fragility, osteogenesis imperfecta. She uses a wheelchair as a dancing aid. In it, she can move widely, but feels isolated. On the ground, she feels the ground against her skin. In the water she can let go of her wheelchair. Noora's toes sink into the mud bottom, which pulsates with her steps. The water supports her fragile body with its pressure and surrounded by it she dares to move more freely, her body is more elastic, her expressions and range of motion are greater. In water she finds ways to move as independently as other dancers on land.

We may imagine ourselves unaffected by the changes of contemporaneity, but the organic and the synthetic have fused. In Dark Field Analysis, we take a dive into the disconcerting strangeness of the inner self, of what often remains hidden – anatomically, psychologically and spiritually. The film speaks about the complexity of living in this world, incorporating animal forces, desire, instinct and technology.

A bird called Memory has forgotten how to come back home. Lua, a trans woman, searches for Memory in the streets, where she finds the city to be a hostile place.

The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet, nurturing and developing exceptional young talent and shaping the future generation of leading dancers, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. A celebratory documentary about a crucial platform for the development of young and ambitious dancers.

Inspired by hydrofeminist theories and wearing a vessel suit, full of leaking water, artist Elisabeth Raymond tells an otherworldly story about sorrow, the plastic in our oceans and how our borders are fluid.

An allegorical film based on the news photos of refugees. Reality is often more absurd and bitter than you could have ever imagined. We are inundated with images that make us jaded in a certain way and our conscience has become a casual phenomenon of our time: today it is here, tomorrow it is gone.

The film is accompanied by a performance by artist Miloushka Bokma.

Bart shares his experiences of living in Moerwijk-Oost, a working-class neighborhood in The Hague. The many empty buildings merge the world of a group of inhabiting creatives with the daily antics of five children living down the street. Shot with a hand-held 16mm and super 8 camera and accompanied by a photo series by Nas Hosen and soundtrack by Unit Nine.

Inei, meaning darkness in Japanese, is a poetic exploration of the unfixed time system known as futeijihō. The dance film unfolds against the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Yufu and is a visual and emotional feast for the senses. From the blue hues of sunrise to the dusky shadows of sunset, the film captures the shifting atmospheres and moods that accompany the passing of time.

Lucid Dreaming tells the story of a girl in a train, who loses herself in the world of another passenger. As she falls deeper in his emotions and sensations, the train and its passengers become part of the world she encounters through him. During this non-verbal encounter between strangers, she experiences how imagination and empathy are both powerful and vulnerable at the same time.

This film is part of the online program but accessible only in the Netherlands.

Bull Rider merges meditations on dance from choreographer Martha Graham, music by composer Philip Glass and featuring bull rider in action Ouncie Mitchell.

Shot in a single take in a long industrial tunnel, within its strict time, choreographic and spatial framework ‘100m’ underlines uniqueness of the experience of going through stages of grief.

Parades is an initiation to a mysterious pagan feast made by powerful images between fantasy and allegory. Director and choreographer Alan Lake depict a universe that is as alluring as it is disturbing.

Whilst driving, a woman attempts to reconcile with her past and the scars it left behind.

There is a couple. Two bodies. Two beings. 1+1. Sometimes it feels like only one. This film piece wants to explore aspects of a relationship through movement, through the bodies of the performers. The unfathomable distance between two people. Broke but never broken

The unfathomable distance between two people. Broke but never broken

From the depths of the Earth to the dunes of an unknown desert, a group of women embark on an initiatory journey. A pagan mass, a quest, or a common elevation, The Goddam Milky Way celebrates femininity in all its roughness and complexity.

Tales of Freedoom explores the possibility of movement through recycled materials and wild thoughts. Like a magnifying glass that reveals what’s hidden in the evident, the main character embarks on a journey through the city and a world of sensations. A naively intuitive research, exposing fear, poetry, frustration, freedom and its restrictions.

In a remote gas station in the heart of winter, a place where time stands still, three strangers cross paths and reshape time in their own way.

Based on a live duet between Ali Kenner Brodsky and Jenna Pollack, to be near you. honors the memory of those that we have lost, collapses distance by energizing the spaces between, and demonstrates how people can find connection through physical separation. to be near you. pushes at the boundaries of time to create a feeling of reconnecting with something, or someone, who is gone.

Heartache deploys tensely expressive movement in a darkly playful take on the dynamics of seeing and being seen. Dark humor, sarcastic imagery and expressive choreography conveyed a unique atmosphere to color the interactions between the dancers and their setting.

A woman walks slowly through a dark, untouched forest. She is following someone in the distance, someone she can’t quite make out. Or is the other actually following her? Too late, the woman regrets a desperate attempt to escape her pursuer. As she starts to understand and approaches the point of no return, she is lured into making a dire decision.

Through unique female circus and movement art, Branché traverses time and Quebec's lush natural landscapes. While diminishing resources and livable land are causing existential collapse, the performers' bold three-high formations and breathtaking falls remind us that a oneness of nature and humanity is undoubtedly worth preserving.

Set in the flooded villages of Java, Indonesia, this dance film attempts to come to terms with the despair that surrounds a disappearing home. Leleb is dedicated to those who endure.

Ampe is a high-energy game played by girls in Ghana. It includes jumping, clapping, and an all-around cheer as two teams select a stepping pattern and face off. The innate joy and competitive edge of ampe discloses the desire of girls to be set free unconditionally and feel a range of emotions without judgment.

Saba, an Iranian girl, is a dancer. She wants to be indifferent to her surroundings and manifests this self-being and freedom with her body. She is in love with the art of dancing, the art of letting go and living away from conventional bonds. But this art of being is forbidden in an ultimately religious state that ignores the very basic human rights. The film is an honest portrait of the daily oppression women have to deal with in Iran towards the path to freedom.

This film is part of the online program but accessible only in the Netherlands.

Far from homogenizing parameters, flamenco uses the subversive power of art to enhance the diversity of bodies on stage. Disability is no longer a limit, but a creative starting point.