“Here you can see Anne Frank leaning out of the window of her house in Amsterdam to get a good look at the bride and groom. It’s the only time Anne Frank has ever been captured on film, according to the Anne Frank House.”

Remember that if the people over at Dutch copyright collection agency Buma Stemra have their way, we won’t be able to show you fun vids anymore because it would cost us thousands of euro a year. Feel free to sign the petition: petitiononline.

Also in Anne Frank news, an asteroid between the Mars and Jupiter has been named Miep Gies last Sunday in honour of the Dutch woman who preserved the diary of Anne Frank. “The International Astronomical Union (IAU) said it wanted to draw attention to the steadfast courage of the now 100-year-old last surviving helper of the Frank family who hid in a building behind a house in Amsterdam during World War II.”

(Link: Presurfer, earthtimes.org)

Next Monday is the premiere of the film ‘C’est Fini’ (It’s over’) in Antwerp, Belgium, a comedy film made by the Dutch cities of Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom near the Belgian border to inform drug tourists about not being able to buy drugs anymore in both cities.

As of tomorrow, coffeeshops in both cities will no longer be allowed to sell soft drugs (hashish and marijuana). Coffeeshops that do sells drugs will be shut down for five years after a first warning. About 90% of all the drugs sold in these cities are to Flemish youth, which adds up to some 25,000 drug tourists.

The film’s plot has three Flemish guys trying to score a joint in the Netherlands. You can catch the trailer here (warning, nasty splash page).

The Dutch could just stop selling soft drugs altogether, some do say, others think that it’s still better to be relaxed about soft drugs in order to dissuade people from taking hard drugs. The current trend is that most people would probably not have the Netherlands known as some sort of coffeeshop and prostituion heaven, but hey, it’s part of the country’s identity at this point and it does attract the right tourists in some places. The jury is defintely still out on this, so to speak.

And don’t ask me why the poster has three languages on it (English = cool, French = cool to the Flemish, Dutch/Flemish = to be understood).

(Link: parool.nl, cestfini.be)

The KLIK! animation film festival will feature more than 250 films from 32 countries from 17 to 20 September in Amsterdam. This internationally known festival is in its third year and keeps gets bigger. One of the enthusiastic organisers Luuk van Huët talks about KLIK! like a proud father so I had to write something.

“Even though Internet has made it easier to access and view animation from around the globe, not enough offbeat animated fare graces the big screens in our creative capital Amsterdam and the rest of the country. We started the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival to change that.”

KLIK! also has a satellite edition in the city of Mopti in Mali, West Africa, where Dutchman Willem Snapper lives. He started the Mopti Foundation to help the locals build gardens and irrigation systems and also screens films in his own backyward every week, attracting 300 visitors at a time, as there is no cinema to be found for hundreds of kilometers.

This year KLIK! has compiled a special program for the Mopti Foundation, to be judged by a jury of local dignitaries, and the winner will receive the KLIK! Mopti Award. KLIK! will also give out awards for the best design in animation and the best political animated film and the awards for the best films in the Open and Student Competition.

And if Luuk were watching over my shoulder, he’d remind me again to finally go and see the ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Sing-and-Swear-A-Long!’ on Friday 18 September.

(Link: klikamsterdam.nl)

We’ve blogged quite a bit about a disturbing trend called the ‘War on fun’, but as of late, the wind is blowing in an entirely different and more disturbing direction: cashing in on what was once considered normal.

The big Pathé cinema in downtown Rotterdam is offering 30+ VIP screenings at an additional price, including coat check (useless during three seasons here) and popcorn. Sounds good, but what’s the difference? It’s quiet.

The whole idea is apparently a hit. Normal is in again, but it’ll cost ya. Oh, and they claim the extra price tag is to pay for additional security because ushers can’t shut the kids up.

Yes, it seems the Pathé is bad at getting rid of ‘youth making noise and causing problems’. And apparently the only way the Pathé can promise a quiet movie is by kicking out patrons younger than 30 years of age — that’s what the 30+ stands for — and getting the thirty-somethings to fork out more money for normality with a nice side order of discrimination. It’s like a one-night gated community of well-behaved, slightly richer people.

I can hear some of you now: ‘Pfff typical Rotterdam’, ‘pfff stupid kids’, pfff those damn (fill in ethnic slur of choice)’. Or maybe it’s an upgraded New Coke syndrome: take away the regular, create a need, fill in the gap and nail people with the bill. Maybe it is brilliant. Scary thought.

I never really liked the Pathé and enjoy my own DVD collection at home with my own popcorn, my own beverages and my chosen company. The Pathé has given me an extra reason to not give them my money: they don’t have the cojones to do their job properly, and have monetary reasons to never do so again.

No wonder people download films from the Internet! Remember, in Amsterdam a while back, Pathé de Munt were the people who divulged their visitors’ personal data because their personnel can’t use computers properly.

(Link: ad.nl, Photo: film.ziggo.nl)

A TV ad made 25 years ago by Veilig Verkeer Nederland (traffic safety association) was apparently so successful nationally and internationally that the makers decided to create a remake. The old ad was broadcast until a couple of years ago and had started to look more 1980s than Michael J. Fox sipping a 7-up on a skateboard. The new and the old commercial—both in which a young child flying a kite running backwards and a car rushing on see each other only very late—show an interesting contrast in storytelling now and 20 years ago, although the differences probably derive from goals that changed over time.

Old:

New:

(Link: VVN. Via: Sargasso, where they wonder which is the best.)

(Trailer of ‘The Dutch Cocaine Factory’ by Jeanette Groenendaal, 2007)

Screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IFDA) in 2007, ‘The Dutch Cocaine Factory’ by Jeanette Groenendaal is a documentary about the history of cocaine dealing in the Netherlands, claimed to be a fascinating adventure in both theme and form, with a David Lynch-like dream quality to it.

The fact is that for over 50 years, until WWII, the Netherlands was the best and biggest cocaine producing country in the world… and we are not talking about a scheme created by two bit junkies, but an operation created by the Dutch Royal Bank.

The film will be screened in the presence of Jeanette Groenendaal at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam on Monday, April 27, at 8 pm. It’s a small, cozy place and sells out super fast.

A big thanks to Amsterdam-based American film expert Jeffrey Babcock for presenting such marvels and getting me to see good films for a change.

Utrecht-based, Benin-born filmmaker Didier Chabi made a simple film interviewing three Dutch guys of Somalian descent trying to explain in laymen’s terms why Somalian pirates keep attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden.

The film (in Dutch) raises some interesting questions: why shoot the pirates after they’ve been arrested? Is that really necessary? “They negotiate with captors of non African countries and don’t kill them when they are caught. But they shoot the Somalians. No one in the film understands why and label it racism.

One guy explains that the Spanish started fishing in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and dumping toxic waste, which resulted in them being attacked, or simply put, the Somalians defending themselves and their rights. Another simple reason for the piracy is that although Somalia has an advantageous geographical position, it hasn’t really led to any economic advantage for Somalians, a very poor African country.

No matter how reprehensible piracy is, it didn’t start in a vacuum, as the media tends to portray, according to the film.

(Link: wereldjournalisten.nl)

After a sold out premiere on 17 January in Amsterdam during the Rated X Amsterdam Alternative Erotica Film Festival, American born, Amsterdam-based film director Jennifer Lyon Bell will be presenting her latest short film ‘Matinee’ in New York City on 27 February as part of the Wanton Female Desire screening block at the CineKink NYC Film Festival.

The Amsterdam premiere featured a Q&A session with British lead actress Alicia Whitsover answering questions about her first ever sexually explicit role. Unfortunately, Daniel, played by Steven McAlistair from Scotland, was not able to attend. 24oranges scored a ticket, having read the script of the film some two years ago and finally getting to see the result.

Two stage actors, Mariah and Daniel are getting bad reviews of their matinee performance. Lyon Bell mentioned that she chose a matinee because the performances are usually of lesser quality than the evening ones when they are more people. One afternoon, Daniel warns Mariah that a prominent agent will be in the audience to check him out, which could mean the difference between Mariah and Daniel being out of a job and moving up in the entertainment business. Problem is, Mariah can’t really get into the sex and this situation pushes her to come off more believable in order to make it work for both of them.

A UK film distributor has started a contest that will see its winner flown to Amsterdam, by plane that is, to collect a bag of marijuana. The distributor, Revolver Entertainment, is holding the contest to promote its film The Wackness.

Writes Revolver:

Yes, you heard us correctly! We’re offering the chance for you to win a fabulous weekend break for 2 to the city of smoke itself, the beautiful Amsterdam. But that’s not all… the lucky winner will also be able to pick up a complimentary bag of skunk from legendary Amsterdam café, Hill Street Blues.

Hidden within one of the first 1,000 DVDs of The Wackness is a Golden Ticket. Find the Golden Ticket and you win! It’s that simple.

Just as mayor Cohen thought he was getting rid of a certain type of British tourist…

Link: BoingBoing. Photo by Sony Pictures.

Another well-known Dutch site about all things underground in and around Amsterdam ondergrond.tv unfortunately decided to call it quits yesterday. It seems that keeping a videoblog online took a toll on the 10 people working at it and who knows what else (time, money, etc.). Ondergrond.tv was popular among the 18 to 30 segment and was part of independent Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool.

The 495 videos made by Ondergrond.tv will remain online on their YouTube channel. We at 24oranges wish them all the best of luck in the future.