Bart Slegers

A once-beloved puppet star of the 90s faces obscurity and crippling debt to a ruthless drug dealer. After being fired from his TV network, he hatches a desperate plan to reclaim his fame and save his life.

Based on Ibsen, Simon Stone wrote and directed a grand family saga about the troublesome but inevitable coexistence of different generations under one roof. Maarten Heijmans received the Arlecchino (best male performance in a supporting role) for his portrayal of Sebastiaan.

A Dutch woman escapes the clutches of Islamic State with her three-year-old daughter. On the bus from the Turkish border town Adana to Istanbul, she finds it hard to trust her fellow travellers. What does this man want who comes to bum a cigarette? Or that nice lady in the toilet? Next, she arrives in Istanbul and another reality forces itself upon her.

A girl lies dying in a hospital room. A priest wants to enter, but her doctor, Ruth Wolff, won't allow it. The incident brings her into such heavy external fire that the survival of her hospital is threatened. At the same time, a colleague takes advantage of the case to bend an internal appointment procedure to his will.

Nicky's whole world revolves around fitness, with the goal of getting bigger and stronger. By constantly monitoring his food consumption and weight, he seems to have his body and entire life under control. But when hidden childhood memories emerge, Nicky starts losing control and his body obsession sets off to an unhealthy direction.

No novel has captivated and moved millions of readers during the past few years like A Little Life by American author Hanya Yanagihara. Ivo van Hove adapted Yanagihara’s novel to theater and created a penetrating performance. Ramsey Nasr won the Louis d'Or (best male performance) for his portrayal of Jude.

When puberty hits the 14-year-old Sonny Kruger, he starts looking at his attractive classmate Coco in a different way. Too shy to ever stand a chance with her, he starts doubting his own masculinity. Sonny’s macho father Bero, his attractive sister Kimberly and bullying classmate Nigel, all contribute to his confusion and frustration. With the help of his best friend Ferdi and the things he sees in nature that inspire him, he eventually does have the courage to approach Coco.

The gentle Odin (15) is the son of Herman Brest, the front man of an extreme right-wing group. After a speech by Herman goes viral, the family receives serious threats and Odin gets into a fight with the popular Victor (16) at school. As a pariah at school and a promise in his father's increasingly aggressive group, Odin feels trapped between two worlds. He desperately clings to loyalty to his father, but his once so familiar world view slowly starts to falter.

In Kings of War, director Ivo van Hove focuses on political leadership. The original texts were retranslated by Rob Klinkenberg and then thoroughly adapted: the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and the Rose Wars between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne, which are emphatically present as a historical context in the original pieces, were referred to the background in the adaptation in order to accommodate a varied portrait of successive kings. As leaders in times of political instability and war, they show remarkable affinities with world leaders today.

It is election night. Oedipus is on the verge of a massive victory. The country has not known a leader for many years since Laius' death. The ambitions are great. Oedipus wants to create a future, create a new way of life. He also insists, if elected, that the investigation into the death of his predecessor is reopened. In the meanwhile, in the half-empty campaign headquarters, Oedipus is surprised by his family - mother, wife and children - with a dinner. An old incident is thereby brought up. Gradually, Oedipus discovers that his past is very different from what he has always thought. During his research, the pieces of the puzzle fall together. Oedipus tries to control his fate, but discovers that he has been seeing blind all along.