Hans Pool

Putin’s Olympic Dream is about the rapid transformation of the city of Sochi. In just a couple of years it has to be refashioned from a nostalgic Soviet holiday resort, filled with gorgeous sanatoriums, into a modern Russian city. The Olympic Winter Games are held here in February 2014, and literally everything and everyone has to yield in order to turn this status project of President Putin into a success.

A successful boxing career is also the goal of Badr Hari, but the tight training schedule that entails is very difficult for him. Rachid el-Haddad has been Dutch champion for years and has decided to give up boxing and start his own barber shop. Every penny is welcome now. In his perhaps very last fight he puts his Dutch title on the line. It's gonna be death or the gladiolus, or Victory or Hell.

Ten years after his tragic accident on the Imola circuit, Ayrton Senna remains a hero; a source of inspiration and a example for many to follow. In this new film, personal recollections from Formula One drivers and from relatives and friends give a passionate insight into his genius, his complicated personality and a deeper understanding of his motivation and deep commitment to motor racing.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) left us a small oeuvre of only 36 paintings. Internationally, the power of his work is now more profound than ever. Blockbuster exhibitions, the novel and movie ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ caught a broad audience. Millions are touched by his work. What do we see in Vermeer that makes him so contemporary? The dignity of his painted ladies, the cinematic and photographic character of his images, the psychological impact, the serenity or apparent glimpse in our own everyday life? Influential contemporary artists, photographers and opinion leaders unravel the extraordinary and mysterious impact of this 17th century master in our day and age.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) left us a small oeuvre of only 36 paintings. Internationally, the power of his work is now more profound than ever. Blockbuster exhibitions, the novel and movie ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ caught a broad audience. Millions are touched by his work. What do we see in Vermeer that makes him so contemporary? The dignity of his painted ladies, the cinematic and photographic character of his images, the psychological impact, the serenity or apparent glimpse in our own everyday life? Influential contemporary artists, photographers and opinion leaders unravel the extraordinary and mysterious impact of this 17th century master in our day and age.

For more than thirty years, the coffee shop has been the international model of tolerance and lenience in the Netherlands. Nobody is penalized here for using soft drugs. But the production nederwiet (Dutch skunk) is still prohibited. The result is an equally hilarious and worrisome cat-and-mouse game played by growers, coffee shop owners, organised crime, police and judges at the backdoor of coffee shops. Filmmakers Maaik Krijgsman and Hans Pool decide to start growing marijuana at home. Their ill-fated enterprise is entertaining to watch. But the stories of the hemp grower, the seller of growing equipment and the coffee shop owner they do business with are sobering. The stricter police policy forces up the price, which paradoxically only fuels the interest of heavy criminals. The idealist hippie era is over. Nederwiet shows all sides of the nederwiet business: from police raids of home growers and visits to large-scale nurseries to a musician who tries to end his weed addiction.

For more than thirty years, the coffee shop has been the international model of tolerance and lenience in the Netherlands. Nobody is penalized here for using soft drugs. But the production nederwiet (Dutch skunk) is still prohibited. The result is an equally hilarious and worrisome cat-and-mouse game played by growers, coffee shop owners, organised crime, police and judges at the backdoor of coffee shops. Filmmakers Maaik Krijgsman and Hans Pool decide to start growing marijuana at home. Their ill-fated enterprise is entertaining to watch. But the stories of the hemp grower, the seller of growing equipment and the coffee shop owner they do business with are sobering. The stricter police policy forces up the price, which paradoxically only fuels the interest of heavy criminals. The idealist hippie era is over. Nederwiet shows all sides of the nederwiet business: from police raids of home growers and visits to large-scale nurseries to a musician who tries to end his weed addiction.

Discover the endless highway in British Columbia where over 40 indigenous women and girls (by unofficial estimates) have disappeared since the 1970s.

Looking for an Icon examines the process by which photos become icons, revealing that once a photo is published, social forces are at work beyond the photographer's control. The film focuses on four World Press Photo winners, including Eddie Adams's 1968 photo of the public execution of a Viet Cong prisoner, an anonymous photographer's last image of Salvador Allende during the 1973 coup, Charlie Cole's 1989 photo of a lone student confronting tanks in Tiananmen Square, and David Turnley's 1991 photo of a grieving soldier during the first Gulf War.

Looking for an Icon examines the process by which photos become icons, revealing that once a photo is published, social forces are at work beyond the photographer's control. The film focuses on four World Press Photo winners, including Eddie Adams's 1968 photo of the public execution of a Viet Cong prisoner, an anonymous photographer's last image of Salvador Allende during the 1973 coup, Charlie Cole's 1989 photo of a lone student confronting tanks in Tiananmen Square, and David Turnley's 1991 photo of a grieving soldier during the first Gulf War.

In 1983, the wife and stepdaughter of Dutch Jaitsen Singh are gruesomely murdered in California. Singh is convicted of inciting the murders, but has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. Given the way his case was handled at the time, this may well be true. Filmmaker Hans Pool investigates this intriguing and complex case and gets exclusive access to court and police documents that reveal a shocking story about racism, corruption, a mistress and a dubious key witness. How did Singh's American dream turn into a nightmare?

Breathtaking natural beauty, tolerant, safe and prosperous. That is the picture we have of Canada in the Netherlands. But is it really that paradisical, or does Trudeau's country know how to put on a mask of civility? Writer Emy Koopman travels in Paradise Canada from Vancouver to Montreal and looks at the problems brewing beneath the surface. The series delves into all the urgent themes of our time and examines the state of Canada with racism and gender equality, migration, climate change and the welfare state. Emy Koopman speaks to famous Canadian intellectuals such as Charles Taylor, Margaret Atwood and Jordan Peterson.

In 1983, the wife and stepdaughter of Dutch Jaitsen Singh are gruesomely murdered in California. Singh is convicted of inciting the murders, but has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. Given the way his case was handled at the time, this may well be true. Filmmaker Hans Pool investigates this intriguing and complex case and gets exclusive access to court and police documents that reveal a shocking story about racism, corruption, a mistress and a dubious key witness. How did Singh's American dream turn into a nightmare?

In 1983, the wife and stepdaughter of Dutch Jaitsen Singh are gruesomely murdered in California. Singh is convicted of inciting the murders, but has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. Given the way his case was handled at the time, this may well be true. Filmmaker Hans Pool investigates this intriguing and complex case and gets exclusive access to court and police documents that reveal a shocking story about racism, corruption, a mistress and a dubious key witness. How did Singh's American dream turn into a nightmare?

In the year of the presidential elections in the US, journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal and director Hans Pool sketch a portrait of the most activist generation since the 1970s: Generation Z. However, the freedom they demand collides with other freedoms, and nowhere does that collision occur as on the surface as in Florida, a state where 'freedom' is rotten in everyone's mouth.

In the year of the presidential elections in the US, journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal and director Hans Pool sketch a portrait of the most activist generation since the 1970s: Generation Z. However, the freedom they demand collides with other freedoms, and nowhere does that collision occur as on the surface as in Florida, a state where 'freedom' is rotten in everyone's mouth.

In the year of the presidential elections in the US, journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal and director Hans Pool sketch a portrait of the most activist generation since the 1970s: Generation Z. However, the freedom they demand collides with other freedoms, and nowhere does that collision occur as on the surface as in Florida, a state where 'freedom' is rotten in everyone's mouth.

In 1983, the wife and stepdaughter of Dutch Jaitsen Singh are gruesomely murdered in California. Singh is convicted of inciting the murders, but has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. Given the way his case was handled at the time, this may well be true. Filmmaker Hans Pool investigates this intriguing and complex case and gets exclusive access to court and police documents that reveal a shocking story about racism, corruption, a mistress and a dubious key witness. How did Singh's American dream turn into a nightmare?