Little Tony (Kleine Teun, dir: Alex van Warmerdam)

Dutch cinema in general and the Dutch film industry in particular are set to enter the new millennium with a whole range of exciting new projects, not to mention an illustrious history during the cinema’s first century (the first recorded Dutch film, whose title is too long to include here, was made in 1905) and an especially strong track-record over the past decade.

Dutch directors like Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers) and Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed, The Haunting) have established solid Hollywood profiles. And, in the overall table of Best Foreign Language Film Oscar-winners, the Netherlands shares a surprising third place with Japan and Sweden - which is pretty impressive for a country with a population of under 16 million and an annual output of only around 20 features.

More impressive still is the fact that, in the nineties, the Netherlands comes equal first (with Italy) among Oscar winners, having taken home the statuette twice in the past decade: once for Marleen Gorris’ Antonia’s Line in 1995 and once for Mike van Diem’s Character in 1997.

Both the latter two films sold well internationally. And the past four or five years have likewise seen a remarkable number of Dutch-made features find theatrical audiences around the world, including Little Sister, Suite 16, The Penknife, In My Father’s House, Little Tony, Left Luggage and, most recently, The Polish Bride. Add in Peter Greenaway films like The Pillow Book and 8 1/2 Women, both predominantly produced from within the Netherlands, and you get a profile which rather gives the lie to the literal English translation of the Dutch for Netherlands: whatever else it is, in film terms Holland is not a ‘nederland’, not a ‘low(-profile) country’.

Perhaps most encouraging for the future of Dutch film production as a commercially oriented, internationally ambitious activity, a new tax-incentive scheme introduced by the Dutch Ministry of Finance at the beginning of this year provides major encouragement for private investors - both local and foreign - to put money into Dutch production.

The first film to be produced under this scheme - the $20-million family movie The Little Vampire, featuring Jonathan Lipnicki, the kid from Jerry Maguire, who is soon to be seen as the lead human character in this Christmas’ major Disney release, Stuart Little - wrapped in Amsterdam in July.

“We’ve also had quite a few Golden Globe nominations,” adds Claudia Landsberger, who runs international promotions body Holland Film. “And, with this sort of exposure, our producers are not finding it hard to get backing.”