We wish everyone a happy and healthy new year. In 2022 we are looking forward to the 14th edition of the Movies that Matter Festival. The dates of the festival have been postponed by two weeks to 8 – 16 April 2022. For nine days, the festival can be experienced at various locations in The Hague and online. We are also expanding to several satellite locations across The Netherlands, where a selection of festival films will be screened.

Movies that Matter supports film screenings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Are you organising film screenings about urgent social issues and human rights? And are you still looking for funding? Apply to our grant programme before 9 May.

On our website you will find more information on the two types of grants, selection criteria and how to apply. If you have any questions concerning the application, you’re welcome to sign up for our online Q&A session on Thursday 15 March at 2PM (CET).

This year we are introducing the theme programme Take on Afghanistan at the festival. Recent and urgent films from and about Afghanistan, which show the far-reaching consequences of the latest developments on film makers and human rights.

“We want to give filmmakers who have to work under particularly difficult circumstances the attention and support they need. Especially now it is important that independent stories from a country where censorship rules also reach the rest of the world“, says artistic director Margje de Koning.

Main Guests
Along with this theme programme, our main guests will be Afghan film makers Sahra Mani (A Thousand Girls Like Me, 2019), Aboozar Amini (Kabul, City in the Wind, 2018) and Dawood Hilmandi (Bekhawy, 2009; Arvaksca, 2011; 2087, 2012). The main guests will be put in the spotlight at the festival with a retrospective of their work. They also present new work in masterclasses and participate in panel discussions with, among others, Afghan makers.

We are proud to announce the festival’s first film title and world premiere: Wij praten niet (transl. We Don’t Talk) by Marjolein Busstra. A confronting documentary of in-depth conversations between therapists and youngsters who are entangled in the complex network of sexual violence and exploitation.

Wij praten niet is produced by HALAL (Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen), in collaboration with Dutch broadcaster KRO-NCRV.

The Industry Days at the Movies that Matter Festival will take place from 7 to 13 April in The Hague and partially online. Join us for a great line-up of workshops, panel discussions, pitches and masterclasses on film and human rights. The accreditations for press and professionals open on Thursday 3 March.