On September of 2025 the 45th edition of the Netherlands Film Festival was held in Utrecht. The festival shows feature and short films from the whole country and it features many categories, the most important being the ‘Gouden Kalf’ competition.
This year, the film ‘Dans naar Morgen’, part of the mini series ‘Ik ben Nieuw’ that premiered at CineKids Festival 2024 was nominated for the Debuut Competition. With it, the film ‘Kleine Wereld’ premiered and was nominated as well. Both films were scored by Dimitra Alexiou, each one with its own unique style.
‘Dans naar morgen’ is directed by Nour Alkheder. Dimitra and Nour have collaborated in the past; in 2023 they made the film ‘Ik meer van jou’ as part of their studies. That film has also travelled in many festivals, in and out of the Netherlands. The whole series ‘Ik ben nieuw’ was also nominated for the television award Televizier-Ring in the Youth Series category, and is available to watch online at npo.nl.
‘Kleine Wereld’ is directed by Thomas Stoop. It is the first collaboration between him and Dimitra, but the editing is done by Kayleigh Stax and the sound design by Gido Rikken, two frequent collaborators of Dimitra’s. The film is supported by ‘Het Cultuurfonds’ and ‘Filmfonds Limburg’.
But in the festival there are many events taking place. Apart from the competition categories, there are the networking events, the workshops and masterclasses, but also the premieres and celebration of specific film projects, such as the fund ‘De Ontmoeting’. ‘De Ontmoeting’ is a platform that supports new filmmakers to make a 7-minute film, and together with ‘Aware’ ( a development track within ‘De Ontmoeting’ that focuses on underrepresented filmmakers) they helped produce the short film ‘Tomatensoep’ by Ömer Akgun, whose music is made by Dimitra.
The film premiered amongst nine other films supported by ‘De Ontmoeting’ in a full room. The event was followed by a private party at the Stadsgebouw in Utrecht, and it also featured a red carpet with photographs and interviews.
This marks the second year in a row that Dimitra’s films are shown during the NFF, and there are many more festivals to come! Stay tuned!