Specials

Tuesday 26 March | Activist Night focuses on human rights defenders and their films. The activists from the eight films will be present and put in the spotlight. The directors of the films will also be there.

Saturday 30 March | Watch three festival favourites plus in-depth programmes at the Best of #MtMF24 day.

Thursday 28 March | Together with the Asser Institute and VU Amsterdam, Movies that Matter presents the Camera Justitia Day, which consists of three parts: the Global Justice Cinema Seminar, the Masterclass and the Camera Justitia Night. Combi tickets for the whole day are available now.

Saturday 30 March | We will close the festival with a one-off screening of the film Crossing. This evening will be introduced by artistic director Margje de Koning and after the screening we will close the festival with a wonderful performance by dancer Meriç Tuncer.

Sunday 24 March | With the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we present two films on climate and biodiversity.

Monday 25 March | A free screening of Eternal You with a talk on AI, ethics and European policy. How do you protect citizens in the age of AI?

22 – 30 March | Roots & Soil is a poignant exhibition born from a long-term collaboration between by photographer Ahmet Polat and students from Gaziantep, who share their experiences after the largest Turkish earthquake on 6 February 2023.

Saturday 30 March | A screening for the whole family. An adventurous coming-of-age drama about two young, deaf girls who go on an unforgettable road trip together where they get to know not only each other, but themselves better.

Sunday 24 March | De Groene Amsterdammer presents two programmes around specially curated films. Phantom Parrot features civil rights activist Muhammad Rabbani. A film about state surveillance and privacy. Russia vs Laywers is about the crumbling rule of law in Russia, and how lawyers themselves become targets in it.

Saturday 30 March | Premiere of the film Homefront. Ukrainian family Lymar flees from the war in their village. They end up in a farming village on the other side of the country, remote and unknown. At the same time, two documentary filmmakers arrive. They find in the Lymars their ideal characters. Until one day the family disappears.

Saturday 30 March | Media partner HUMAN presents a special discounted day.

Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 March | three Dutch celebrities show their favourite from the festival programme.

Zondag 24 maart | Prior to this screening of Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, director Johan Grimonprez will give a master class.

Saturday 23 March | What influence do location, politics, religion, education, family, historiography and the spirit of the time have on the way history is remembered? How is history passed onto future generations? During the Movies that Matter Festival, Nest presents the first film of the series – JAVA – recorded in Jakarta.

Sunday 24 March | A special one-off preview screening of No Other Land in association with IDFA.

Friday 29 March | Two impressive documentaries selected by 2Doc for its annual 2Doc selection.

Friday 22 March | The festival starts with the film Photophobia.  The 16th edition of Movies that Matter Festival will be opened on March 22 by artistic director Margje de Koning. Mert Kumru, campaigner at World’s Youth for Climate Justice, will give a speech at the opening. After the film there will be an interview with director Pavol Pekarčík. The evening will be moderated by Bahram Sadeghi.

Wednesday, 27 March | This year, we present a special programme dedicated to the Iranian women’s movement and Iranian women in exile.

Thursday 28 March | Prior to the screening of Green Border, moderator Bahram Sadeghi will talk to Tineke Ceelen, director of Stichting Vluchteling and Oliwia Hurley, who works on the Polish border supporting refugees there.

22 – 30 March | Want to grab a drink before or after the film? DJs will spin in the foyer of the Theater aan het Spui every night, and on Saturday 23 March in Filmhuis. To provide you with good tunes. Check out the line-up below.

Saturday 23 March | Newspaper Trouw traditionally presents two gripping films during the Movies that Matter Festival. Both films can be seen including post-screening discussions, led by Trouw editor Remke de Lange.

For the Movies that Matter Festival 2024, we asked the talented second-year Audiovisual Design students from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam to create teasers that they believe represent the festival’s vision. Check out the winning teasers!