SILENT FLOOD
Documentary feature (release 2025, 83 minutes). Director: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. TABOR Films (Ukraine), in co-production with Elemag Pictures (Germany) and The Other Room.
A pacifist community with unique religious beliefs, living in a picturesque river canyon in western Ukraine, is seeing their peaceful way of life gradually eroded.
This closed religious community, located on the banks of the Dniester River, lives by its own strict rules, cut off from the outside world. For example, they do not use electricity or modern medicine, they do not marry outside the community, they do not join the army and they do not take up arms.
The community’s attempts to distance themselves from the outside world are often disrupted by the annual floods that take everything in their path and change the landscape of the rural shores.
As an even more devastating “flood” approaches Ukraine, the war with Russia leaves the community with no choice but to unite and ignore their beliefs, and the villagers gradually begin to go against their own rules, joining with the outside world to help in the fight against the enemy.
NIEMAND DIE HET ZIET (HIDDEN)
Documentary series (4 x 50′). Directors: Mea Dols de Jong & Chris Westendorp. Writers: Mea Dols de Jong, Ester Gould, Reijer Zwaan. Co-producer: BNNVARA (NL). Release: 2024. International premiere: Canneseries (Competition Best Documentary Series).
This geopolitical thriller shows the new reality of hybrid warfare, disinformation, espionage and sabotage. It follows five protagonists in Ukraine, Taiwan, Brussels and The Netherlands who are determined to defend themselves against digital attacks in the present, or want to uncover the truth about attacks from the past.
In their shared mission to make unseen threats visible, they each ask: how do we protect our democracies in modern times of war?
“Thrilling… You almost forget it’s not scripted.” — De Volkskrant
“Like watching Oppenheimer, James Bond, and Newshour all at once. The new war is invisible but achingly palpable.” — NRC
“Exciting, urgent, smart.” – DocUpdate
Below you can download the book we’ve published as part of the impact campaign of HIDDEN. The book is only available in Dutch.
FLUSHING
Documentary feature. Director: Ester Gould. Screenwriters: Ester Gould & Saskia de Jong. Status: development. Co-producer: Muyi Films (NL), HUMAN (NL). Release: TBD.
Chaos and ruthless competition: a modern-day ‘gold rush’ is raging in Flushing, a melting-pot neighborhood in the shadow of Manhattan. While most inhabitants hustle daily to get by, they also find comfort in each other’s company. FLUSHING is a documentary Western about life and survival in the margins of the most basic capitalist society.
STRIKE A POSE
Directors: Ester Gould & Reijer Zwaan. Screenwriters: Ester Gould & Reijer Zwaan. Co-producer: CTM Docs (NL), Serendipity (BE), SWR/Arte (DE). Premiered in 2016 at the Berlinale (World), Tribeca Film Festival (US) and Hot Docs.
What does it take to express yourself? The surprising and moving story of Madonna’s most famous troupe of dancers.
In 1990, seven young male dancers – 6 gay, 1 straight – joined Madonna on her most controversial tour. On stage and in the iconic film TRUTH OR DARE they showed the world how to express yourself. Now, 25 years later, they reveal the truth about life during and after the tour. STRIKE A POSE is a dramatic tale about overcoming shame and finding the courage to be who you are.