Submissions open for 2024/25 season of Indy Film Library’s annual contest Early bird submissions at lower rate until the end of April Last week, Indy Film Library (IFL) announced the winners of our 2024 season. The event included two nights of digital screenings, and drew to a close with a sell-out showcase at Filmhuis Cavia, Amsterdam. The festival was the result of hundreds of impartial reviews on the IFL website – as well as four extra showcase events. This year, we celebrated experimental, student, horror shorts from around the world via our digital screening page; as well ..read more

Names and labels have meaning. Key issues in analysing films are the causes and contradictions, often assumed, that motivate the characters and drive forward the narrative. One area of cinema where there is often confusion is in dramas that deal with the oppression, even occupation, found in countries dominated by the advanced capitalist states. The latter are often addressed as the ‘West’ whilst the former are often ‘addressed as ‘the Global South’ or also ‘The Third World’. All sorts of rationales are provided for these wars; some of them are downright mendacious, as with ‘self-defence’, or ..read more

A day after your own film festival has concluded, probably the last thing you should do to your body is drag it to somebody else’s. But less than 24 hours after surviving Indy Film Library’s 2024 showcase in Amsterdam, a very kind invite from the organisers meant that I found myself at the famous Melkweg for In-Edit NL – an international musical documentary festival – and a screening of They Shot the Piano Player. The fact I was very visibly running on empty (even during the IFL event one friendly so-and-so took the time to tell me I “look tired”) as I grumpily shuffled into the theatre might ..read more

Fifth annual Indy Film Library festival ends with awards distributed at event at Filmhuis Cavia, Amsterdam Family history examination The Captain’s Heart claims Best Feature Documentary Film while lockdown drama Moon Students takes Best Feature Narrative Film Hans Dessers named Best Director for his work on bitter-sweet father-daughter drama Always Summer Serial-winner Victoria Warmerdam picks up Best Screenplay for satirical sci-fi Ik ben geen robot Ramses van Hall awarded Best Actor for strong performance in bodybuilding mockumentary Johnny, which also scoops Best Short Narrative Since Thu ..read more

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April is flying by – and our three-day 2024 festival is just 24 hours away! We will begin with an online showcase of international films on the 11th and 12th of April. Viewers from outside the Netherlands can access the event from the comfort of their own homes – with the selection of independent movies showing via the private theatre page of our website. Then, on the 13th of April, we will present our annual showpiece event in the storied theatre of Filmhuis Cavia, in Amsterdam! This our fifth festival, but it also takes place during a major milestone of the theatre’s – having just celebrated ..read more

Director: Chu Tianshu Writer: Chu Tianshu Cast: Zhou Yu Tong Running time: 20mins Every fiction film has to navigate a delicate balancing act, when it comes to the suspension of the audience’s disbelief. A big part of that is judging what works well as a choreographed routine, and what does not. In that regard, putting standup comedy in a narrative film is high risk, and low-reward at the best of times. As is also the case with sports (and in particular football), the more you show of what is supposed to be an organic event, the less spontaneous and enjoyable it feels. While it is true that v ..read more

Director: Maarten de Bruijne Writer: Maarten de Bruijne Cast: Chloé Larrère & Delphine Cheverry Running time: 16mins Despite being a film of few words, Maarten de Bruijne’s light-touch story is still simmering with familial resentment, and dying dreams. He does as much to set the scene for this with the use of different mediums as he does with direct storytelling – the gorgeous black-and-white photography of Lenny Somers only giving way to bursts of glorious technicolour when a VHS camcorder is trained our wantaway protagonist Jeanne. In our opening scene, Jeanne speaks directly to the bu ..read more

John Post’s has produced “mini-documentaries” before – but his latest feature was on a whole new scale; recording the huge efforts of an artist recreating a medieval version of his home town. Ahead of The Model Maker: Constant Williams playing at IFL’s 2024 festival, he spoke to Indy Film Library about the challenges and rewards of piecing together his own piece of art, from five years of footage! Your film is part of our 2024 Amsterdam showcase. Out of interest, how did you hear about Indy Film Library, and what made you decide to submit your work to us? I came across your festival on the Fi ..read more

Along with the climate change-induced spring bloom, Easter is early this year. And like a horde of putrid crocuses, the idiots claiming “Easter eggs don’t even say Easter on them anymore” have surfaced to bleat out their bizarre and inaccurate assertions of political correctness gone mad. In their honour, I thought I’d write something to remind everyone about the reason for the season. Jesus. Rampant capitalism. The Easter Bunny.   For as long as I can remember, I have been haunted by images of a pair of rabbits being swallowed whole by a shark – before belting out Please Release Me to en ..read more