Skip to content

npo

Why the most artistic film genre struggles to get off the ground. The growing pains of the dance film, part 1.

There is a lot of grumbling about Dutch cinema: it is too good, not creative enough, there is not enough experimentation. However, there is one small island where other laws apply. Where, sometimes with hefty budgets and sometimes for next to nothing, films are made that speak a different language: the dance film. No psychologising, no endless dialogue, but... 

Why The Look of Koolhoven deserves a lot of emulation.

In the last century, we had Teleac. Teleac taught me to play chess. Quite extraordinary for television. Perhaps because I have associated television with 'learning' in that way from a young age, I am thrilled with the series made by VPRO with Martin Koolhoven. It is, for the first time in ages, television that stimulates the mind, that makes you think ... 

Who pays the artist? Lower House hears about shocking reality in the arts in roundtable discussion

Whether the artists performing on DWDD got paid for their performance. Esther Ouwehand of the PvdD did not know. She was not the only one, at the roundtable session on Wednesday 25 April on the labour market in the cultural sector. None of the MPs, fund managers, trade unionists present knew. So we asked on facebook and twitter how it was even done.... 

Krisztina de Chatel in A frenzied mastery

Truly something to look forward to. Krisztina de Châtel's emotions come unstuck in A frenzied mastery

'A frenzied mastery' is the name of the documentary that Manon Lichtveld and Bas Westerhof made about Krisztina de Châtel. The emotions really hit home when visiting their parents' home in Hungary. We met them in the Rabozaal of Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam. They were also filming. Bas Westerhof and Manon Lichtveld. Cameraman Leo van Emden and I followed Koert... 

Public broadcasting is salvageable. (Why football should go to commercial)

Our public broadcasting system is unique in the world. Unfortunately, it is not something to be particularly proud of. The system and the thinking behind it are virtually incomprehensible. Or, as NTR director Paul Römer put it less diplomatically in August: we have 'a backward system that cannot be explained to anyone (anymore)'. It was a sideline in his interview with... 

Why it is beyond stupid of the NPO to move Radio Kunststof

Radio Kunststof is one of the most successful early-evening programmes on our national disaster channel Radio 1. That success is partly due to its great formula: a long conversation with a more or less well-known figure from the arts and media corner. However, much more important reason for that success is the broadcast time. Between seven and eight in the evening, very... 

YouTube is bursting at the seams!

It is easier than ever to produce and distribute your own videos. Every minute, more than 300 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube. Is this gigantic amount still manageable? No. The video platform has become too big to continue to exist smoothly. By Nuno Blijboom There is no better source for cat videos, bullying vloggers and gaming youngsters 

PvdA: 2x hundred million added for culture and NPO. Or not?

It really is there, although it is unclear whether there will be an additional 100 million twice or whether public broadcasting and the entire cultural sector will have to make do with one additional 100 million. But at least it is clear: as in the rest of the draft election programme, the party mainly distances itself from the VVD and the four-year... 

Hello, here Hilversum

Last weekend, more than 500 monuments in the Netherlands could be visited for free during the annual Open Monumentendag. Each year, this special day has a theme, this year it was 'Icons and Symbols'. After a thorough restoration, Hilversum's Studio 2 in the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep also opened its doors after 85 years. During the same week, a pop-up exhibition... 

Programmer to talk: Astrid in 't Veld's dream season

When you go to a concert, you think about the music, the ensemble, the soloist and/or the conductor. Maybe you look up something about the composer but you never think about the programmer who made the concert possible. Astrid in 't Veld is someone who thinks about the range of concerts on offer years in advance in order to help you with... 

Podium Witteman has lost the stage, er, way

Throughout the year, the public broadcaster spends a lot of time on sports. For World Cup, Tour or Games, cultural broadcasts are cancelled for weeks without pardon. If you can't beat them, join them, Paul Witteman must have thought, or perhaps the viewing figures were disappointing, because on 1 May he devoted an entire Podium Witteman broadcast to cycling. Don't. The reason for the cycling special is... 

'TV has lost touch with reality'

"Let's have a Magna Carta of British Broadcasting." With those words, celebrated actor Idris Elba (Luther, The Wire) began his closing remarks in the British Parliament. For the past half hour, he has been speaking to the Lords and Ladies kindly yet persuasively about the need and opportunities for diversity in British television. The timing of this speech was perfect because... 

Letter Bussemaker: butts in seats or artistic recognition?

Minister Jet Bussemaker's letter will keep tongues wagging for a long time to come. There are considerable gaps here and there between the Culture Council's advice and the minister's letter. Also in the field of film and media. A list of differences. Bussemaker notes that the film sector is changing considerably. Media consumption is changing due to the rapid rise... 

NTR Podium

Not just Kunststof TV, NTR Podium is also ending. Long live Podium Witteman.

NTR Podium: the television programme about music and dance, is calling it quits. Tonight is the last broadcast with the Harmonium by John Adams by the Residentie Orkest. In 2015, NTR Podium gives way to the new Podium Witteman. This will be mainly about classical music and jazz.

All the feature films of Theo van Gogh (1957 - 2004) at EYE, tribute to a free spirit with a big heart

"Theo van Gogh tried so hard to be an enfant terrible that we almost forgot that he was one of the Netherlands' most creative and productive filmmakers." I wrote this for the GPD papers on 2 November 2004, after an editor called me with the terrible news of the filmmaker's violent death. Soon, that murder was exactly ten... 

UPC in court: 'Writer is assembly line worker in peanut butter factory'

The noble art of cable pulling is one of the most profitable activities in Dutch media land. This was evident on Tuesday 15 April in the Amsterdam court. There the Dutch writers, represented by Lira, faced off against the big cable companies and producers, represented by some very expensive lawyers, hailing from the office towers at the nearby Amsterdam Zuidas.

The cable companies consider themselves the grand grifters of the Dutch media market....

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

VARA honours Barbara Strozzi, tone poet at lonely level

No fewer than eight collections of arias, cantatas, duets and sacred works were published by Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677). She enjoyed great prestige in the Accademia degli unisoni founded by her father, and lived off her compositions. Exceptional at a time when women were expected to become nuns or wives. From 1 to 5 October, her music will be heard daily in VARA's Composer of the Week programme on Radio 4, between 19.30 and 20.00.

Unfortunately, the cliché that whole vo...

You can now log in to continue reading!

Welcome to the Culture Press archive! As a member, you have access to all, over 4,000 posts we have made since our inception in 2009!

(Recent posts (under three months old) are available for all to read, thanks to our members!)

Become a member, or log in below:

Private Membership (month)
5 / Maand
For natural persons and self-employed persons.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Own mastodon account
Access to our archives
Small Membership (month)
18 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of less than €250,000 per year
No annoying banners
A premium newsletter
All our podcasts
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Posting press releases yourself
Extra attention in news coverage
Large Membership (month)
36 / Maand
For cultural institutions with a turnover/subsidy of more than €250,000 per year.
No annoying banners
A special newsletter
Your own Mastodon account
Access to archives
Share press releases with our audience
Extra attention in news coverage
Premium Newsletter (substack)
5 trial subscriptions
All our podcasts

Payments are made via iDeal, Paypal, Credit Card, Bancontact or Direct Debit. If you prefer to pay manually, based on an invoice in advance, we charge a 10€ administration fee

*Only for annual membership or after 12 monthly payments

en_GBEnglish (UK)