Newsletter English - End of Year - Save the Date MtMF26

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Newsletter
End-of-Year Greetings

As the end of the year approaches, we would like to thank you – our dedicated followers and visitors – for your commitment in 2025. We would also like to take a moment to look back on a remarkable and inspiring year.

The Movies that Matter Festival 2026 will take place next year from 20 to 28 March in The Hague. Be sure to mark the festival in your calendar!

Add the festival to your calendar

We look back on a successful 2025 edition of the Movies that Matter Festival in The Hague. With almost 15% more visitors than in 2024 and an audience rating of no less than 9 (!), we feel even more strengthened in our mission.

We presented 105 films and industry programmes during the festival, both at our festival hub at Filmhuis Den Haag and Theater aan het Spui, and at guest locations such as De Regentes, Theater Dakota and Theater De Vaillant.

This year, we supported 10 international human rights film festivals with a grant and organised another successful Cinema without Borders edition during the festival.

Through the Embassy Film Menu with 70 screenings, the Activist Film Menu with 95 screenings, and the Activist Outreach programme for 4 Activist Lens films, Movies that Matter films reached new audiences worldwide.

Thanks to our educational screenings, a total of 17,543 secondary school pupils and vocational students in 30 cities, from The Hague and Amsterdam to Emmeloord and Waalwijk, saw a Movies that Matter film.

The On Tour programme brought festival films to 16 cinemas across the country. In addition, we screened films throughout the year, including at beach bar Het Puntje and during Just Peace with a programme around the NATO summit.

Thanks to the efforts of 217 volunteers, our activities took shape: from the many helping hands at the festival to the On Tour groups that put together a strong programme every month. We are extremely grateful to them!

We launched the Movies that Matter Podcast with five episodes, and that’s not all. You can expect new recordings in 2026. We have also recently joined the film lovers’ platform Letterboxd.

Multi Ticket

Will you be attending the Movies that Matter Festival again next year? Secure your Multi Ticket now, or surprise someone and give it to them as a gift!

Why a Multi Ticket?

Watch 5 or 10 festival films and save €2.50 per ticket
Book your tickets one day before general sale
Easily share your tickets with friends
Perfect as a gift for film lovers during the festive season

In addition to the festival, numerous events are planned for the new year, in which we will continue to highlight human rights on the silver screen and initiate important conversations.

In January, we will present an exclusive preview tour of The Voice of Hind Rajab as part of our On Tour programme. Starting in January, we will also be launching a series of musical protest films entitled Films that Make Noise, in collaboration with PAARD. We will also be present at Brainwash Night at RADION Amsterdam on 12 March with short films.

We are enthusiastically committed to realising these programmes and are grateful for all the support we have received so far. Would you also like to support us and contribute to this important work? Take a look at the various options here.

We wish you a healthy and inspiring 2026!

On behalf of the Movies that Matter team,
Margje de Koning, artistic director
Laurens Korteweg, business director