Tag: festival

Android Dreams: AI Film Fest Amsterdam #3

Enter the future of cinema, where imagination and technology converge.

On Wednesday, May 6th, 18:30–20:30, Droog hosts the third edition of Android Dreams. Presented by MadHatter Studios & AI Film Fest Amsterdam, this event brings together traditional cinematic expertise and the cutting edge of AI artistry.

PROGRAM

AI Short Film Screening (18:30–19:00) A curated selection of the world’s most compelling AI-generated cinema.

  • Featured Artist: A special spotlight on Roman Lapacz (Mr.Oan), showcasing his latest visual narratives.
  • Award Winners: A screening of world-class AI films that have redefined the medium’s potential in 2026.

Panel Discussion (19:00–19:30) Voices from the European creative ecosystem discuss the intersection of craft, commercial innovation, and the ethics of emerging tools.

AI Film Workshop (19:30–20:30) A tactical deep dive into professional AI filmmaking workflows. Learn to translate abstract ideas into concrete visual narratives using:

  • Motion & Physics: how to get dynamic action scenes.
  • Consistency: character and temporal stability.
  • Cinematic Fidelity: for high-end video generation.

Followed by some time for networking.

SPEAKERS

Asad Ayub: Founder of MadHatter Studios and AI Film Fest Amsterdam. MadHatter has been at the forefront of the AI filmmaking revolution. Some notable clients include: Luma, Google, Subway, and Dunkin’. AI Film Fest has expanded internationally, hosting events in Dubai, Milan, Riyadh, Warsaw, Berlin, Budapest & Paris. Asad has been a musician, writer and filmmaker for 15 years. 

Massimo Benvegnú: A seasoned film expert with decades of experience, Massimo brings a rich historical perspective to the conversation. His background includes programming for the prestigious EYE Film Museum and working for global institutions including the Venice Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival.

Roman Lapacz (Mr.Oan): A French Art Director and AI filmmaker based in Amsterdam. Roman began his career in advertising (London, Turin, Paris) before turning his passion for shaping ideas into striking images toward the world of AI filmmaking, where he now crafts intricate prompts and immersive stories.

 

Carnaval Film Festival 2025

Join us at the Redspace @droog on Sunday, July 13, as we host one of the in-person screenings for the Carnaval Film Festival 2025 – a celebration of global Carnaval traditions through the lens of cinema.

From July 11–13, this first-ever edition in Amsterdam invites you on a journey through films that capture the spirit, sound, and soul of Carnaval. With a focus on joy, resistance, and cultural memory, the festival features stories from Brazil to Trinidad, from Curaçao to New Orleans, and right back home to the Netherlands and Belgium.

This Sunday screening is part of a dynamic program across Melkweg Cinema and Droog, alongside an expansive online selection of 50+ curated titles from across the globe.

Click here to view Melkweg’s program.

Program Sunday 13th July:

 

16:00 – First Screening

Main: Van Leek noar Aouw Steek (2024, 77′, NL) with introduction and Q&A with the director

Director: Marc van der Staak
Language: Dutch
Subtitles: Dutch

Short: Oilsjt op zen best (2024, 21′, Belgium)

Link to the event page

 

Van Leek noar Aouw Steek is een documentaire over de rijke geschiedenis en levendige tradities van carnaval in Klompengat, de carnavalsnaam van Best, een stad nabij Eindhoven in Noord-Brabant, de ultieme carnavalsprovincie van Nederland. De film neemt de kijker mee op een reis door het verleden en heden van dit unieke feest, en laat zien hoe carnaval zich heeft ontwikkeld en welke impact het heeft op de lokale gemeenschap.

Oilsjt op zen best – Een levendige ode aan Aalst en haar unieke karakter. Van het beroemde carnaval tot het dagelijkse leven in de stad: deze documentaire laat zien wat Aalst zo bijzonder maakt, met aandacht voor de tradities, de mensen en hun typische Aalsterse humor.

 

19:00 – Second Screening

Main: Kurason Di Un Pueblo (2021, 87′, Curaçao) with introduction and Q&A with the director

Director: Corine Djaoen-Genaro
Language: Dutch
Subtitles: English

Short: Bubbling Baby (2025, 18′, NL)

Link to the event page

 

Kurason Di Un Pueblo – Deze documentaire van Dolph van Stapele viert 50 jaar Carnaval op Curaçao. Met interviews, archiefbeelden en kleurrijke scènes volgt de film de voorbereidingen op de ‘Gran Marcha’ en toont hoe het feest de Curaçaose gemeenschap verbindt en haar identiteit versterkt.

Bubbling Baby – In deze korte documentaire onderzoekt Sharine Rijsenburg het ontstaan van bubbling: een energiek muziek- en dansgenre dat ontstond in de jaren ’80 onder Caribisch-Nederlandse jongeren. Met DJ Moortje als pionier groeide bubbling uit tot een unieke culturele uiting en een belangrijk symbool van identiteit. De film ging in première op IFFR 2025.

Caribbean Creativity is an Amsterdam-based non-profit dedicated to showcasing Caribbean and Caribbean-themed cinema in the Netherlands. Since 2008, they’ve hosted over 300 screenings and launched the Marley75 Film Festival and YardVibes, a streaming platform featuring 100+ films by Caribbean and African filmmakers. The Carnaval Film Festival marks their second major on-location film festival.

Africadelic is a non-profit championing African and diasporic cultural creativity and activism in the Netherlands. Best known for the Africadelic Festival around International Africa Day, the organization also curates year-round events. In 2025, they celebrate a decade of festivals and co-organize the inaugural Carnaval Film Festival.

Queer Cinema for Palestine Film Festival

Join us at Red Space, Droog’s new multimedia film theatre, for a powerful evening of Queer Cinema for Palestine; a program that brings together queer narratives and collective reflection in solidarity with Palestinian liberation.

Programma 17 Juni 2025

Screening Starts: 19:00

Screening Ends: 20:30

Film Program

Abgad Hawaz, Robin Riad, 1min, Canada (2024)

Audio: Arabic, English
Subtitles: N/A

Robin Riad’s short hand-drawn analogue film ostensibly teaches the pronunciation of the Arabic Alphabet in 28 easy steps. In actuality, the hand-drawn letters were printed using a laser jet printer onto the optical soundtrack of 16mm film, and what you hear in the film is the projector reading the letters, and interpreting them into sound. Riad uses humour to play with and sit with her mother tongue, offering a ‘false’ lesson in pronunciation. A response to a digital form of anti-Arab hate that Riad witnessed online coming out of the genocide in Gaza, Abgad Hawaz is a way for her to hold close to her language, culture, and roots. (Written by Tara Hakim for TQFF)

Out of Gaza, Seza Tiyara Selen, Jannis Osterburg, 9min, Germany (2025)

Audio: German, Arabic
Subtitles: English

A young Palestinian woman wants to flee from Gaza with her friends, hoping to find freedom in the West. As a talented engineer she makes escape possible, but doubts arise if it is the right decision to leave. When they cross the wall, they encounter a world they did not expect.

Blood Like Water, Dima Hamdan, 14min, Palestine (2023)

Audio: Arabic
Subtitles: English

Shadi embarks on a secret adventure, and accidentally drags his family into a trap where they only have two choices; either collaborate with the Israeli occupation, or be shamed and humiliated by their own people. Based on true stories.

a tangled web drowning in honey, Tara Hakim & Hannah Hull, 9min, Canada (2023)

Audio: English
Subtitles: English

a tangled web drowning in honey is an experiential and textural short film that invites viewers into the inner workings of a mind to ponder the ways in which we love and unlove ourselves.

Aliens in Beirut, Raghed Charabaty, 16min, Lebanon, Canada (2025)

Audio: Arabic, English
Subtitles: English

Aliens in Beirut blurs doc and fiction, exploring alienation and desire at home through scripted improv, wildlife cinematography and visual experimentation. Charabaty (who also stars in the film) reimagines events from their life leading up to the fateful 2020 Beirut Port Explosion. Returning to Beirut from Toronto, desperately in search of roots, Amir falls for a stranger by the sea. In the end, the explosion cares for nobody – leaving behind traces of unerasable desire.

Palcorecore, Dana Dawud, 8min, Internet footage from Palestine (2023)

Audio: Arabic and English
Subtitles: English

Dana Dawud’s Palcorecore (Palestine) is a hypnotic fusion of dance, archival footage, and internet-circulated videos that collapse past and present into a visceral portrait of Palestinian life. Opening with The Lovers Songs Band and excerpts from Jenin, Jenin (2003), the film assembles fleeting yet powerful images: flag-waving horseback riders, families at the beach, teenagers dancing in flames, and acts of resistance against occupation. Dawud’s deadpan narration—“I witness you witness me, we are martyrs together”—pulls the viewer into a shared act of witnessing. Through rhythmic disorder and movement, the film captures the resilience, rebellion, and everyday joys of Palestinian existence, focusing particularly on youth and women in their defiant assertion of life.

I never promised you a Jasmine Garden, Teyama AlKamli, 20min, Canada (2023)

Audio: Arabic, English
Subtitles: English

Tara, a queer Palestinian woman in her late 20s, attempts to suppress her internal emotional turbulence during a phone call with her best friend Sarab, with whom she is in love.

Don’t take my joy away, Omar Gabriel, 7min, Lebanon (2024)

Audio: Arabic
Subtitles: English

Set in Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, two friends revel in the small joys of life until violence suddenly disrupts their world. Forced to flee, they embark on a dangerous journey of survival, confronting fear, chaos, and the stark realities around them. Along the way, they must choose between remaining in the shadows or seeking the light.