Holland Film Meeting Selections 2023

Nineteen exciting and highly promising new projects are selected for the New Dutch, Stories & Beyond and BoostNL programmes of the 2023 Holland Film Meeting. Fifteen of the projects are majority Dutch (including Curaçao), 1 Flemish project in coproduction with the Netherlands, and three projects are invited from far afield as Peru, India and Colombia. With Dutch filmmaking luminaries such as David Verbeek (Full Contact), Mischa Kamp (Boys, Romy's Salon), Erik de Bruyn (Wild Mussels, J. Kessels) and Shamira Raphaëla (Shabu) and director Edson da Conceiçao (Golden Calf Best Drama Series – Rampvlucht).

Of the nineteen projects presented within the New Dutch, Stories & Beyond and BoostNL categories, the majority are fiction features with the subprogramme Stories & Beyond placing special emphasis on Dutch genre films this year. Additionally, one project this year is a creative documentary, and one is a feature-length animation.

New Dutch is a curated selection of the most exciting new projects from the Netherlands whose production teams will receive a tailor-made trajectory best suited to their individual goals, wishes and needs. This year eight projects are earmarked for bespoke creative and business mentorship as they eye up their immersion into the marketplace and their eventual roll-out to (inter)national audiences.

From 2023 onwards, we will put our program “New Dutch” front and center in showcasing the best of what the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking territories like Curaçao and Flanders have to offer. We will focus not only on the potential for co-production or sales but also on incorporating international feedback to make a bigger splash in global waters for the Dutch film industry.

BoostNL, the tailor-made professional programme run in collaboration with Dutch partner festival IFFR presents six projects. Three projects from The Netherlands, and three more from Peru, France/India and Colombia supported by IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund. The selected projects begin their five-month training trajectory in Utrecht and conclude in Rotterdam in January/February 2024. The programme places particular emphasis on script and story development and helps develop festival, sales and marketing strategies for optimal business returns.

Five Dutch genre projects are selected for Stories & Beyond. The section offers the maximum opportunity for screenwriters and filmmakers at the early stages of the development and production to explore the international potential of their projects and obtain feedback and advice from key creative and industry professionals.

“HFM has always been about spotting and promoting trends in the industry, and we are happy to contribute to a fresh wave of enticing genre projects from Dutch soil this year, from both established professionals, as well as upcoming talent,” confirms Head of Professionals & Talent Sterre de Jong.