Dutch Focus

With the Dutch Focus competition, we create space for the Dutch film landscape and shine a spotlight on filmmakers from the Dutch film sector who, with courage and craftsmanship, tell stories about human rights, freedom, and social justice within and beyond the Netherlands.

On the Award Night, the Dutch Focus Award and €5,000 prize money will be presented to the director of the winning film.

Dutch Focus is made possible by VEVAM, copyright organisation for directors.

Winner 2026: Tussen broers

Jury report: “We were united as a jury in our admiration for a personal story well told. A portrait of two men, who endure an unpredictable and difficult childhood of abandonment together, but remain steadfastly committed to each other throughout their adult lives. This film is given an additional layer of intriguing complexity through a subtle provocation that asks us to consider how abnormal and strange our ideas of a ‘normal life’ might be. Director Tom Fassaert’s delicate exploration of how familial trauma spirals down through the generations, is a well-narrated account of the ties that bind us, in often inscrutable and unforeseen ways, and how we try to loosen their restrictive consequences.”

A special mention in the ‘Dutch Focus’ competition was awarded to Gedwongen Geloften by Eva Strating and Roxanne Herder.