The Promise by Daan Veldhuizen opens Movies that Matter Festival ’25

The Promise

The urgent documentary The Promise uses personal stories and historical research to reveal how the oppression of the Papuan people remains deeply connected to a largely erased chapter of Dutch history, and how colonialism continues to shape the present.

The Promise is a masterfully crafted, gripping, and confrontational documentary featuring beautifully restored archival footage. The film exposes a deliberately obscured part of our history. With this film, director Daan Veldhuizen not only gives a stage to the Papuan people but also holds up a mirror to us, reflecting on the lasting impact of colonial power structures today.
– Artistic Director Margje de Koning

Competitions

The Movies that Matter Festival presents a total of nine awards across various competitions. The Activist Lens Competition showcases documentaries about the work and lives of human rights defenders. Justice Frame focuses on the importance of the rule of law and the fight against impunity. The third competition programme, Dutch Focus, highlights Dutch feature films and documentaries that broaden perspectives on human rights.

Awards

International juries select the winners of the Grand Jury Documentary and Grand Jury Fiction awards, recognising the best documentary and fiction film, respectively. In recent years, the festival has also introduced the Shorts Award for the best short film. In collaboration with The Hague-based film club Film070, an award is presented for the best film suitable for young adults. Additionally, all festival visitors can vote for the films they attend, with the highest-rated film winning the Audience Award, made possible by ASN Bank. The Education Award, given to the film with the greatest educational value, is chosen by a jury of high school and vocational students.

Themes

The films in Take on Future explore the dilemmas of transitioning to a sustainable future. What is needed to accelerate this process? Take on Love is a vibrant and diverse programme celebrating the right to be yourself and love whomever you choose. Take on Power presents films about inequalities in power structures. Take on Freedom delves into the irresistible longing for freedom and the struggles required to achieve it. Festival Favourites features audience favourites that have proven their excellence at international festivals. The new programme Deep Dive takes a closer look at the impact and dynamics of war, showcasing both classics and new films.

About The Promise

A forgotten struggle, a lost future. In the 1960s, it seemed that West Papua was on the path to independence. But international interests, geopolitical power struggles, and economic motives dictated otherwise. Using uniquely restored 35mm archival footage, The Promise brings this history back to life, revealing how an entire people is systematically betrayed and oppressed.

As the Netherlands prepared for the independence of Dutch New Guinea, Indonesia strongly opposed it. Under pressure from the United States and the United Nations, the region was handed over to Indonesia in 1962, with the promise of a referendum. But the so-called ‘Act of Free Choice’ turned out to be a sham. Since then, Papuans in Indonesia have been persecuted, displaced, and killed on a massive scale—one of the world’s most neglected genocides.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film shows how the future of West Papua was shaped not only in diplomatic backrooms but also by corporate interests, where influential Western elites, including Prince Bernhard, appeared to prioritise economic gains over human rights. While West Papua’s vast natural resources continue to be exploited by predominantly Western companies to this day, the Indigenous population remains systematically oppressed.

Through powerful testimonies from exiled Papuans and their ongoing fight for recognition, director Daan Veldhuizen paints a painful picture in The Promise of how colonialism gave way to neo-colonialism—and how the world remained silent.