Name: In The Age Of Vigilance: Shorts
Duration: PT120 min.M

Ontdek

Movies that Matter On Tour brings a selection of impactful festival films to LHC. Films that move, challenge, connect and inspire change. Always with context: your local volunteers provide an introduction or follow-up discussion with guest speakers at each screening.

For the first time in On Tour, we bring together a striking selection of short films, including a preview of two new festival shorts! In The Age of Vigilance takes us on a bumpy, sometimes satirical, ride through state oppression, repression and hopelessness within a system that turns its back to those it is supposed to protect. The selection reflects the current Orwellian state of affairs, where government surveillance, manipulation of truth and abuse of power dictate daily life in most parts of the world. Together, these films capture the urgency and fragility of life under constant pressure, when vigilance becomes a daily condition, asking what it means to live under pressure, and what it takes to keep thinking, feeling, and resisting.

Credits

Regie: Misc.
Genre: Drama
Speelduur: 120 min.

Omschrijving

Looking For A Donkey (Juan Vicente Manrique, 2024 – 17′)
In 2018, two firefighters from the Venezuelan Andes published in social media a video of a donkey as if it were the president of Venezuela visiting their rundown facilities. That same day, they were taken to prison. After almost six years, the people from Apartaderos are afraid of talking about the case. People at the time whispered that the donkey was also detained that day, but nobody seems to know what happened to him. In a dive through this small town in the mountain, the search for the donkey begins; the only one who perhaps managed to get out unhurt from this bad joke.

A Lien (David Cutler-Kreutz, Sam Cutler-Kreutz, 2023 – 15′)
The 15-minute drama follows Sophie and Oscar, a young couple who think they are attending a routine green card interview, only to face unexpected dangers and systemic barriers. Their young daughter, Nina, adds emotional depth to the story as the stakes become increasingly dire. The film critiques real-life immigration enforcement practices, particularly the detention of undocumented individuals during official proceedings. Through intimate cinematography, a tense atmosphere, and strong performances, A LIEN delivers a powerful and timely message about immigration reform. The film has been nominated for an Academy Award and has received critical acclaim for its emotional impact and relevance to current political discourse.

What If They Bomb Here Tonight? (Samir Syriani, 2025 – 16′)
Samir and Nadyn, a Lebanese couple, spend a sleepless night anxious and fearing an Israeli airstrike could shatter the glass walls of their home. With their children peacefully asleep, they battle with whether to flee or risk the worst and stay.

Happiness (Fırat Yücel, 2025 – 18′)
An urgent desktop diary made at the intersection of a hectic digital landscape and the inner violence of modern colonization. The film chronicles the sleepless nights of a group of activists, eyes fixed on screens as they follow the news from Palestine and across the region. In Amsterdam, far from their home countries, police violence and the threat of deportation glue them to digital interfaces night after night. Engaging with anti-colonial resistance across screens and streets, “happiness” is a humble reminder to keep searching for solutions.

More Movies That Matter On Tour

In 1971, 27-year-old Newsweek reporter Alec Shimkin discovers a secret US-led military campaign in Vietnam. The story is about to reveal war crimes on an immense scale, undeniably Pullitzer-worthy material. But the Scoop never got the exposure it deserved: though published in Newsweek, Shimkin’s findings were tucked away in a small sidebar, far from the front-page attention they warrented. Shimkin’s discovery was Operation Speedy Express, a campaign that may have involved war crimes on a scale that makes the infamous My Lai massacre pale by comparrison. Yet almost no one knows the full truth, because Alec himself vanished before he could bring it to light. In the trail of Alec’s quest and his childhood obsession for war, the documentary Soldier’s Bones, directed by Kasper Verkaik, searches for the deadly echo of Speedy Express in the Mekong Delta.

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Movies that Matter On Tour brings a selection of impactful festival films to LHC. Films that move, challenge, connect and inspire change. Always with context: your local volunteers provide an introduction or follow-up discussion with guest speakers at each screening. In the idyllic English countryside lives an intensive dairy farmer called Derek. One day his neighbour, also called Derek, forsakes farming tradition and starts turning his land over to wild nature. How does the community react when one of its own turns his back on their way of life?

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In a world that often overlooks the power of the elderly, Micheline, Francis, and Yves lead a group of activists on a bold and tender journey to redefine the often-complicated relationship between aging and sexuality. Together, they prove that desire, defiance, and the need for intimacy are not strictly reserved for the youth.

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An Asian tourist visits the touristic highlights that the Netherlands has to offer. After losing his passport – due to biased assumptions about his identity – he ends up in a refugee asylum situated on a former luxury cruise ship in Amsterdam. Awaiting a solution to his precarious situation, he manages to start special friendships with the residents of the asylum through non-verbal communication. This hybrid film was made with non-professional actors and refugees playing themselves, and is inspired by a true story.

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