Paul Ruven

An ode to musicals past. Handsome men spend their time in a beautiful manor.

In a series of long held shots, men are observed performing simple tasks in real time, while on the soundtrack we hear excerpts from opera.

Just before his wedding, a Dutch man discovers that he has an African daughter. Is it blackmail or not? He has to find out quickly before the wedding. He has to travel with his alleged daughter through an African country in turmoil to uncover a surprising mystery.

Just before his wedding, a Dutch man discovers that he has an African daughter. Is it blackmail or not? He has to find out quickly before the wedding. He has to travel with his alleged daughter through an African country in turmoil to uncover a surprising mystery.

Mahmut, the son of a poor Turkish greengrocer in the Netherlands, dreams of escaping his retail fate by becoming a rapper. But things change radically when he and his best friend Apo find out that a dangerous Turkish gang is extorting money from their fathers. With the help of the police they go undercover within that gang - but can these two aspiring rappers succeed?

Mahmut, the son of a poor Turkish greengrocer in the Netherlands, dreams of escaping his retail fate by becoming a rapper. But things change radically when he and his best friend Apo find out that a dangerous Turkish gang is extorting money from their fathers. With the help of the police they go undercover within that gang - but can these two aspiring rappers succeed?

Bob and Annie separate. After the court case Annie gives Bob two airline tickets for a tropical island to save their relationship. However, Bob takes someone else with him on holiday: Carmen, the daughter of Mafioso Don Gorgonzola. Annie lags behind in Holland, where she falls in love again with other men.

Bob and Annie separate. After the court case Annie gives Bob two airline tickets for a tropical island to save their relationship. However, Bob takes someone else with him on holiday: Carmen, the daughter of Mafioso Don Gorgonzola. Annie lags behind in Holland, where she falls in love again with other men.

Five years after the disappearance of high school girl Natalee Holloway in Aruba, an ambitious journalist wants to break into alleged murderer Joran van der Sloot's home to force a breakthrough in the case.

Five years after the disappearance of high school girl Natalee Holloway in Aruba, an ambitious journalist wants to break into alleged murderer Joran van der Sloot's home to force a breakthrough in the case.

Lou is a Turkish cellmate on leave, who has started proving his Turkish cellmate to save him from marrying another with his Turkish lover. The leaver enlists the help of his wife who has suddenly entered into a relationship with the responsible probation officer. Equipped with a revolver and telephone, the shaky couple drives through the streets of Amsterdam.

Lou is a Turkish cellmate on leave, who has started proving his Turkish cellmate to save him from marrying another with his Turkish lover. The leaver enlists the help of his wife who has suddenly entered into a relationship with the responsible probation officer. Equipped with a revolver and telephone, the shaky couple drives through the streets of Amsterdam.

Ushi Hirosaki has to marry according to Japanese tradition before her 30th birthday. Because time is running out, her family decides she has to marry a huge sumo wrestler. A rather unfortunate combination, so Ushi wants to look for a nicer candidate herself. She travels halfway around the world to find her dream husband. Along the way she does valiant efforts, for example to learn table manners and to lose her Japanese accent.

Fruit farmer Van Leeuwen is diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. His eldest son, lawyer Ernst, arranges to have him admitted in a residential home. Ernst's shy brother Nico, who stayed on to take care of dad and the farm, made a mess of it business-wise. Meanwhile traumatic memories rekindle and dad sort of organizes a riot, demanding an excursion to his orchard.

The Surrender is a romantic erotic film based on the novel The surrender of Floor by Renee Amstel. A critic called the novel: "the Dutch answer to the Fifty Shades of Grey hype". Eva is a pretty young woman. She works in a cafe and her dream is to be a singer. One day, the famous actor Tim asks if she wants to play with him in a movie. There is no script, only the romantic erotic novel The Surrender Of Floor. Does she want to see with him how they can play the two characters in the book? That is the beginning of their tempestuous relationship, in which they are trying to be honest to their own secret fantasies and go beyond their limits. How far do they go in love?

Based on the traditional Dutch smartlap genre (an overly dramatic folk song). Maria Machita has to deal with a lot of heartache in this short musical film; her father dies in an accident, her mother perishes in the theatre, and her sweet Turkish boyfriend is leaving the country. Awarded with a Gouden Kalf for Best Short Film, the Prijs van de Stad Utrecht and the Pathé Tuschinski Award. (from http://www.filmfestival.nl/publiek/films/de-tranen-van-maria-machita)

February 2002. An Argentinian mother and her daughter visit Amsterdam during the wedding of prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima. She is looking for a miracle, the reappearing of her husband Alejandro, who got lost during the regime. She experiences difficulty as the police don't believe her story. On top of it all her daughter disappears in the crowd. Police officer Felix Bos also has a problem. His girlfriend Min has just heard some bad news. She's going to be evicted from the country. The situation brings Felix into trouble with the police. This is also the day he finds out his mother couldn't have been his mother.

February 2002. An Argentinian mother and her daughter visit Amsterdam during the wedding of prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima. She is looking for a miracle, the reappearing of her husband Alejandro, who got lost during the regime. She experiences difficulty as the police don't believe her story. On top of it all her daughter disappears in the crowd. Police officer Felix Bos also has a problem. His girlfriend Min has just heard some bad news. She's going to be evicted from the country. The situation brings Felix into trouble with the police. This is also the day he finds out his mother couldn't have been his mother.

Before bedtime is the worst time of the day for Duco, a 12-year-old boy. Only one way seems to remain to permanently put an end to this.

A thrilling love story between the young boxer Vincent and the German Eva, who soon has to marry with the middle-aged Dirk to save her family. While the war starts in the Netherlands their impossible love inflames. May 14, 1940, the day that the centre of Rotterdam is bombed and the young lovers lose sight of each other.

A thrilling love story between the young boxer Vincent and the German Eva, who soon has to marry with the middle-aged Dirk to save her family. While the war starts in the Netherlands their impossible love inflames. May 14, 1940, the day that the centre of Rotterdam is bombed and the young lovers lose sight of each other.

A well-to-do white family struck by overnight financial ruin struggle to find their place in the urban, multicultural working-class neighborhood they are forced to move into.

Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp.

Based on the real-life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their harrowing reunion in a concentration camp.

The bizarre story takes place in Amsterdam-West, where a virus turns people into bloodthirsty zombies. Although much blood is flowing and many limbs chopped off, there is a lot to laugh at in this bizarre horror comedy.

Ushi Hirosaki has to marry according to Japanese tradition before her 30th birthday. Because time is running out, her family decides she has to marry a huge sumo wrestler. A rather unfortunate combination, so Ushi wants to look for a nicer candidate herself. She travels halfway around the world to find her dream husband. Along the way she does valiant efforts, for example to learn table manners and to lose her Japanese accent.

Ushi Hirosaki has to marry according to Japanese tradition before her 30th birthday. Because time is running out, her family decides she has to marry a huge sumo wrestler. A rather unfortunate combination, so Ushi wants to look for a nicer candidate herself. She travels halfway around the world to find her dream husband. Along the way she does valiant efforts, for example to learn table manners and to lose her Japanese accent.

A Hollywood producer tries to grab the role of a lifetime.

A tasty, vulgar, low-budget, urban road movie about a satirical drawn art environment with great impromptu renditions and Peter Falk detective pastiche Wingers to lick your thumbs and fingers. The American-Dutch psychiatrist Bold Wasser plays in his role as Detective Scotty all professional actors of the cloth. Long plan sequence shots give the film an almost documentary, authentic appearance.

You wake up, with no memory. You have 90 minutes before your kidnappers will kill you, unless you find out who you are and why these foreign people want to kill you. A thriller in the vein of “Buried” with a devious twist.

A series of short vignettes set in a Berlin Mietskaserne (rental barracks for the poor), framed by Schönberg's atonal piece Pierrot Lunaire.

Switching from one popular TV-genre to another, a dramatic love-story unfolds between the nun Agnes and a Tv-reporter/Rock-star.

When painter Pieter Athmer discovered that his inspiration David Hockney was living in nearby Normandy, he created a surprise for him, and left on a roadtrip from Amsterdam to France with his good friend, director Gerardjan Rijnders.

A thriller with a surprise twist about the NSA Deputy Director, who needs a genius plan to save his child from a kidnapper, who wants him to betray the privacy of all US citizens and make him the next Snowden with a devious marketing plan.

Achilles '29 from Groesbeek has been a top club in amateur football for years. In recent years they even surpass De Treffers, their bigger brother and competitor in the construction worker's village. When the club can promote to professional football via a pilot project, it takes on the challenge. It becomes a huge risk for the people who love the club.

A mysterious foreign woman who is staying temporarily in a house there. Who she is and what her secret is are both slowly revealed in the reconstruction of a story about passion, revenge and war. Paul Ruven's homage to the films of Marguerite Duras and Chantal Akerman.

A mysterious foreign woman who is staying temporarily in a house there. Who she is and what her secret is are both slowly revealed in the reconstruction of a story about passion, revenge and war. Paul Ruven's homage to the films of Marguerite Duras and Chantal Akerman.

D.C. has been abandoned by his girlfriend Nola, wants to go to Hollywood and participates in 'chicken races' out of desperation and lack of money; a perilous event in which one travels a certain distance on the road by car without stopping.

The romantic pharmacist Max is in a relationship with Willie and also has a platonic relationship with Laura. The artist Henk is the fourth player in this game of quartets. The foursome is comically torn between the urge for independence and the desire for a partner. Jealousy and relationship anxiety cause the relationships to constantly change, resulting in continuous relocations. In between, there is the minor drama involving Bonita: Max has a passion for pigeons. Together with the melancholic pigeon fancier Gisbers, he is the owner of the cock pigeon Bonita, who never wins any prizes...

In this art-film, a famous multimedia artist abandons his former life for a new one in a hermetically sealed room filled with living portraits. His new space becomes a haven for the terminally dysfunctional. Trouble ensues when two strangers, the world-weary Col. Hardy and the handsome son of an aspiring presidential candidate, come to collect on a commissioned work of art.

Ryder is a psychiatrist who can flawlessly analyze his clients' problems, but is hopelessly alone in solving his own mental distress. One day, Sleuth, a detective, bursts into Ryder's office with the news that Ryder is suspected of murdering three women. Ryder is unaware of any wrongdoing. However, he has received a mysterious letter announcing a murder, and Lizzy, his secretary, has disappeared without a trace. The confessions of a new patient set Ryder thinking. A verbal cat-and-mouse game ensues between Ryder and Sleuth, but it raises more questions than it answers. If the murders have been committed, what is the motive? And if there is no motive, can there be a suspect? Or has everything been staged? Perhaps by Sleuth or Ryder himself?

Ryder is a psychiatrist who can flawlessly analyze his clients' problems, but is hopelessly alone in solving his own mental distress. One day, Sleuth, a detective, bursts into Ryder's office with the news that Ryder is suspected of murdering three women. Ryder is unaware of any wrongdoing. However, he has received a mysterious letter announcing a murder, and Lizzy, his secretary, has disappeared without a trace. The confessions of a new patient set Ryder thinking. A verbal cat-and-mouse game ensues between Ryder and Sleuth, but it raises more questions than it answers. If the murders have been committed, what is the motive? And if there is no motive, can there be a suspect? Or has everything been staged? Perhaps by Sleuth or Ryder himself?

A thriller with a surprise twist about the NSA Deputy Director, who needs a genius plan to save his child from a kidnapper, who wants him to betray the privacy of all US citizens and make him the next Snowden with a devious marketing plan.

The romantic pharmacist Max is in a relationship with Willie and also has a platonic relationship with Laura. The artist Henk is the fourth player in this game of quartets. The foursome is comically torn between the urge for independence and the desire for a partner. Jealousy and relationship anxiety cause the relationships to constantly change, resulting in continuous relocations. In between, there is the minor drama involving Bonita: Max has a passion for pigeons. Together with the melancholic pigeon fancier Gisbers, he is the owner of the cock pigeon Bonita, who never wins any prizes...

A series of short vignettes set in a Berlin Mietskaserne (rental barracks for the poor), framed by Schönberg's atonal piece Pierrot Lunaire.

In this art-film, a famous multimedia artist abandons his former life for a new one in a hermetically sealed room filled with living portraits. His new space becomes a haven for the terminally dysfunctional. Trouble ensues when two strangers, the world-weary Col. Hardy and the handsome son of an aspiring presidential candidate, come to collect on a commissioned work of art.

A slaughterhouse worker appears to be romantically involved with his boss's wife. They plan to leave the country together, but at the airport she waits for him in vain. Slowly but surely the three of them get entangled in a fateful web of betrayal, jealousy and revenge.

D.C. has been abandoned by his girlfriend Nola, wants to go to Hollywood and participates in 'chicken races' out of desperation and lack of money; a perilous event in which one travels a certain distance on the road by car without stopping.

A satire about the difficult way films are made in the Netherlands. The focus is on the painstaking way in which aspiring filmmakers, have to see the script in hand, grants and funds available.

Composer Adam has to compose a European anthem while a tax inspector gets in his way.

In 1990s Amsterdam, Loe and Bob are in a relationship, but wanting different things. Loe is a singer who likes to party and who is also engaged in migrant support. Bob is a lawyer focused on his career. As the film progresses, the tensions in the relationship become exposed.

A woman is forced to confront her apathy to the murders she witnesses every evening.

A woman is forced to confront her apathy to the murders she witnesses every evening.

In an undisclosed location and time, in the land of 1001 nights, the law dictates that the Emperor must take a new wife if his current Empress does not bear a son within seven years of marriage. At the celebration Ball of their sixth wedding anniversary, the Emperor (MAX BEESLEY - Torque) and his faithful manservant, Chamberlain (JONATHAN RHYS-MEYERS - Vanity Fair, Bend It Like Beckham, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead) begin the covert operation to find and prepare a virgin candidate to become the new Empress.A suitable young woman, Sabah (LETICIA DOLERA) is secretly transported into an isolated wing in the Imperial Palace. In this prison of fairytale rooms, she is tutored by the Masters and spied upon by the Emperor and Chamberlain. Should the current Empress (ROSANA PASTOR) conceive, everyone in the secret wing will be executed.

A struggling actress gets one last shot at her Hollywood dream - with just one hour to turn an unreleased Dutch movie into a $100 million sequel to "Babygirl."

A struggling actress gets one last shot at her Hollywood dream - with just one hour to turn an unreleased Dutch movie into a $100 million sequel to "Babygirl."

A struggling actress gets one last shot at her Hollywood dream - with just one hour to turn an unreleased Dutch movie into a $100 million sequel to "Babygirl."