Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike van Diem to open Pulling Focus: NL 2026

IFFR Pro is thrilled to announce that a conversation with Oscar-winning filmmaker Mike van Diem will open Pulling Focus: NL 2026 on Sunday 1 February, an industry day dedicated to spotlighting Dutch talent on the international stage.

Van Diem’s career exemplifies Dutch cinema’s international potential. His graduation film Alaska (1989) became the first student film to win a Golden Calf and earned him a Student Academy Award. His feature Character (IFFR 1998) earned him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Following Character, van Diem directed the comedies The Surprise (2015) and Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle (2017) before returning to darker territory with his latest work Voor de meisjes (Our Girls) – a €6.5m Dutch-Austrian-Belgian co-production. The psychological drama reunited van Diem with Fedja van Huêt (Alaska, Character) and showcases both the ambition and scale, as well as the international collaborations, that Pulling Focus: NL celebrates.

Voor de meisjes opened the 2025 Netherlands Film Festival and went on to win three Golden Calves: Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay (Mike van Diem) and Best Leading Role (Thekla Reuten). The film became the most visited Dutch film of 2025 with 317,000 admissions.

Van Diem’s opening talk will set the tone for a day spotlighting Dutch breakthrough talent, featuring NL Wave project presentations before the launch of the Dutch Talent Market – a new platform connecting international producers with the below-the-line professionals essential to successful co-productions.

The day concludes with the Big Talk: A Queer Family Affair following the screening of recent Dutch co-production Jimpa. Hanna van Vliet will moderate a conversation with renowned actor John Lithgow and the Dutch cast (including Hans Kesting, Romana Vrede and Zoë Love Smith), for a conversation exploring the film’s creative origins, cross-cultural collaboration and themes of identity, legacy and chosen family. 

Pulling Focus: NL 2026 takes place Sunday 1 February 2026, 14.30 – 16.30, ‘de Doelen’ Willem Burger Zaal and will be open to the general public. The concluding Big Talk is also open to the public and both must be pre-booked by badge-holders.

CineMart x NLWave

A bespoke showcase of three Dutch projects seeking international partners are presented as part of the CineMart x NLWave selection. These projects have been handpicked from NLWave25, an initiative by the Netherlands Film Fund, in collaboration with SEE NL and Eye Filmmuseum, aiming to spotlight new and upcoming Dutch feature-length films, documentaries and animation. 

The programme offers tailored mentorship, script consultations with international experts, and targeted one-to-one meetings to support project development and strengthen international co-production opportunities.

Near Far Up(side) Down dir. Esther Rots, Netherlands
Produced by: Isabella Films (BE), Rots Filmwerk (NL), Seesaw Pictures (SK), Prime Time (BE)

pink & green dir. Rory Pilgrim, Netherlands
Produced by: SMARTHOUSE Creative Impact Studio (NL), Tyke Films (NL)

Tina Town dir. David-Jan Bronsgeest, Netherlands
Produced by: PRPL (NL)

Dutch Talent Market

During Pulling Focus, IFFR Pro launches the Dutch Talent Market dedicated to below-the-line professionals. With presentations and dedicated booths, this pilot edition offers a platform for guilds representing editors, cinematographers, actors and more – precisely the professionals who form the backbone of successful co-productions. International producers are invited to connect directly with the crews and learn about the technical and creative expertise they can bring to a project.

The Dutch Talent Market will spotlight the Netherlands Association of Cinema Editors (NCE), the Netherlands Society of Cinematographers (NSC), the Association for Actors (ACT) and the Talenthub Zuid-Holland, representing filmmaking talent from the region surrounding Rotterdam and the Hague.