I first visited the Netherlands in the early 1990s on a field trip with my Typography & Graphic Communication degree. Over the course of two field trips we were lucky to take during the course, we also visited Belgium, Germany and Italy. We really got the feeling that the Netherlands values design and creative output perhaps more than the rest of Europe and my own UK. Over the years since, my impression hasn’t really changed.

The Nederlands Poeziefilm Festival has been running for a couple of years so far. It is Netherlands focussed and not international. I’m sure if you’re from the Netherlands you will know it already or will want to check it out. The 2024 edition will be 8-9 November this year.

But I would also encourage all curators and festival organisers to have a look at the website and programme, and infer (if you don’t speak Dutch and are relying on Google translate) what Hans Heesen, Helmie Stil and Lex Veerkamp are achieving with their festival in a small country with a niche genre.

I’m sure it is still not easy to achieve,  but it’s exciting to see what the possibilities might be given a positive following wind.