Theo Van Vliet

Twelve year old 'Boefje' spends most of his time in the alleys, on rooftops and in the harbor of Rotterdam. A local clergyman takes pity on him and attempts to teach him good manners.

“Ciske de Rat” belongs to the Dickensean “little man’s hard life” model and tells a deceptively simple story about a boy in modern Netherlands. Persecution, loneliness, adults’ hostility, fear, mixture of obstinacy and tenderness, and even an imprisonment. Excellent camera movement and delicate portraying of Ciske’s fragile soul put this film out of merely historical context and ensure its place in the history of great cinema.

Myrte and the Demons is a hallucinatory trip through a world shot in chiaroscuro in which lugubrious forest spirits take human forms at night. Myrte, symbol of good, enters into battle with evil, aided by a colorful group of fantasy creatures, including the moon. Special: Bert Haanstra made his film debut as a cameraman on the set of Myrte en de Demonen.