Ammodo Docs

Ammodo Docs is a series of artistic shorts about original minds. Renowned Dutch filmmakers challenge you to see the world through the eyes of pioneers in the arts and science. By releasing new films each year, Ammodo Docs works to build a growing, publicly accessible collection of documentaries about diverse contemporary challenges. Ammodo Docs expands your worldview in just fifteen minutes per film. Forward-thinking films.

Ammodo Docs Season 2023 release dates →

1. E7

   7. Dimension of Absence

   3 years ago

   Although she didn’t personally experience the last Argentinian military junta (1976-1983), Argentinian-Dutch visual artist Aimée Zito Lema grew up in the shadow of the violent history that affected her country and family. At a young age, she grew fascinated with archival photographs of people who dared to risk their lives by resisting Jorge Videla’s military regime. On a visit to Buenos Aires, she includes her daughter in a performative art piece in which they embody the past and imagine a new future, showing the way art can function as a medium for memory work across countries and generations.

2. E6

   6. The Mystery of MS

   3 years ago

   Neuroscientist Jeroen Geurts has dedicated his career to finding the cause of multiple sclerosis, a brain disease affecting millions. He hopes to find a cure within ten years. Unsure of what exactly he is looking for, his mission feels like wandering through a dark forest. Following his intuition, he searches in places others have neglected. Geurts says he is trying to find something which “language cannot yet grasp”, and emphasises the role of metaphors in this scientific field riddled with mysteries.

3. E5

   5. Eyes Wide Open

   3 years ago

   In an ongoing series of theatre productions, Nicole Beutler explores how humans are inflicting irreversible damage on planet earth. What does our future look like? Her plays envision the necessary transformation of the position of humans on earth: the end of the Anthropocene takes centre stage. She describes this process as “going into the dark with your eyes wide open”. Beutler combines a strong artistic vision with room for joint decision-making. By inviting her team to bring their own visions to the table, she creates a collective work of art while challenging traditional conceptions of leadership. In the film, we see Nicole Beutler working on GINKGO or: 56 million years ago there were palm trees on the North Pole. A confrontational dance opera about the end of the world as we know it, and the first performance of her RITUALS OF TRANSFORMATION trilogy.

4. E4

   4. The Guts of the Neuroscientist

   3 years ago

   What is intuition? And how can gut feelings influence science? Known for her extensive research into adolescent brain development, neuroscientist Eveline Crone proposes that intuition is an aspect of the mind worth studying and embracing. In her scientific career, her own gut feelings have often led the way to new insights. In The Guts of the Neuroscientist, Crone takes us on a journey through an abstract landscape of morphing white lines as she contemplates the development and the future of neuroscience.

5. E3

   3. Moving Mountains

   3 years ago

   To map the effects of climate change, mountain hydrologist Walter Immerzeel and his team venture to remote altitudes where other scientists do not go. From his tent base camp in the Himalayas, he collects data on precipitation, temperature, atmospheric pressure, solar irradiance, windspeed and more using over 200 measuring instruments. These data must be extremely accurate in order to reliably predict changes in the region’s water cycle – which is of crucial importance for the millions of people who live in the climate-sensitive areas downstream. In Moving Mountains, filmmaker and mountaineer Renko Douze follows Immerzeel on one of his mountain expeditions.

6. E2

   2. In Between Realities

   3 years ago

   How does technology transform humanity? Do we need a body to be human? In his multidisciplinary work, composer and director Michel van der Aa explores the big themes of our digitised age and contemplates existential questions in the border area between humans, machines and consciousness. Van der Aa re-energises the world of opera. Whether his VR goggles are on or off, he is always looking towards the future. In Between Realities shows him working on a new music theatre project, crossing the boundaries between remembering and forgetting, reality and unreality, life and death. Together with actors and avatars he forges new paths into the metaverse.

7. E1

   1. The Underground Astronaut

   3 years ago

   Beneath our feet lies a mystery. A complex underground network of mycorrhizal fungi keeps our ecosystem alive by exchanging nutrients and carbon with almost all plants on Earth. Remarkably, no one knows exactly how these sophisticated and ancient systems operate, or how they are affected by climate change. The Underground Astronaut follows evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, named one of the 2022 TIME100 Next Innovators, on her quest to map the world’s fungi networks and understand their behaviour before it’s too late. A fragrant and urgent journey underground. “No fungi, no future.”

Once again, this year Ammodo is releasing new short documentaries about groundbreaking artists and scientists. In fifteen-minute films, leading filmmakers show you how these trailblazers are changing our outlook. This year’s selection includes films about: Ibrahim Mahama – visual artist Pierre Audi – opera director Jonathas De Andrade – visual artist Stephanie Wehner – quantum scientist

Ammodo Docs Season 2024 release dates →

1. E4

   4. Moonshot Mission

   2 years ago

   In 1969 the first message was successfully sent on the internet, heralding a revolution in communication technology. Today, we are on the eve of a new revolution: that of the quantum internet, a fundamentally new way of communicating which relies on the laws of quantum mechanics and is inherently secure, inherently stable and incredibly efficient. This paves the way for applications that haven’t even been thought of yet. Quantum scientist and former hacker Stephanie Wehner is on a mission to develop the first operational quantum internet network before 2030. A daunting task, which some would even call crazy, but Wehner believes she can do it – not only by writing scientific articles, but simply by building it.

2. E3

   3. Northern Winds

   2 years ago

   Growing up, visual artist Jonathas de Andrade was fascinated by the jangadeiros (sailors) operating the traditional fishing boats in his hometown of Maceio, Brazil. In Northern Winds, we follow him as he visits this community of workers to film their craft (which now serves tourism) for a new artwork. Intrigued by their skilful way of rolling the sailboats up and down the beach, De Andrade tries to capture their ingenious choreography. Far from romanticising their way of life, however, he creates a testament to their precarious existence in a country where unequal power structures are painfully and at times violently apparent.

3. E2

   2. Three Acts

   2 years ago

   Opera as an artform can be approached from various angles – the music, the singers, the stage design. Then there is the story, the emotion, the ideas. How does one combine these elements into an event which opens the door to fantasy and dreams? In Three Acts, world-renowned opera director Pierre Audi gives us a glimpse behind the scenes. As we watch him prepare for a rendition of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in Tokyo (with stage design by visual artist Anish Kapoor), he shares his vision for the genre. According to Audi, the dramatic world on stage can bring us more in touch with contemporary issues than reading the news ever could. In the theatre you offer hope, he says. “You help people find a connection with themselves.”

4. E1

   1. Dear Home of Scars

   2 years ago

   In Dear Home of Scars, we see celebrated visual artist Ibrahim Mahama return to his hometown of Tamale in Northern Ghana to visit Red Clay Studio, a lively cultural centre and art space he founded, where he works on a new art installation involving old colonial railcars and the reconstruction of a stretch of track. During British rule of Ghana (1821-1957), the colonisers used trains to transport gold and other resources to the coast. Remnants of track now lie abandoned as silent reminders of this history of exploitation. They are ‘scars in the landscape’, in the words of Mahama. The project brings new energy and self-awareness to local residents. Meanwhile, Mahama reflects on his role as a sought-after artist and builder of local communities.

A new season of Ammodo Docs, in which groundbreaking scientists and artists offer an intimate insight into their work through the lens of leading filmmakers. This season features artist Mounira Al Solh, theatre director Eline Arbo, malaria researcher Teun Bousema, ethicist Tamar Sharon and Islamic scholar Christian Lange.

Ammodo Docs Season 2025 release dates →

1. E5

   5. The Storm Within

   1 year ago

   On her native soil just above the Arctic Circle, Norwegian-Dutch theater director Eline Arbo recalls her teenage spirit: "I was so bold, eager and looking for fun - I often think back on those days." Today, she feels like a fighter trying with all her might to turn the tide in an alienating and unjust world. In The Storm Within, Arbo reflects on her role as a leading theater director as she rehearses for the new play Haugtussa, based on a Norwegian cycle of poems in which a young woman with magical powers seeks refuge in nature. With a dark and mysterious theatrical adaptation, Arbo aims to create a world never before seen on stage. In her view, the ominous mythical scenes of nineteenth century Haugtussa are profoundly contemporary.

2. E4

   4. Dancing on the Ruins

   1 year ago

   How do you hold on to hope in times of violence and oppression? For visual artist Mounira Al Solh, born in Lebanon and based in the Netherlands, making art is her lifeline: a way to ‘resist the feeling that we are doomed.’ Remarkably, this does not result in somber work. Dancing on the Ruins shows how Al Solh fearlessly builds a multifaceted and playfully activist body of work. Through textiles, ceramics, installations, video and paintings, the artist creates a colorful universe in which she blends personal stories with ancient myths and musical traditions. Her passion is fueled by a deep sense of urgency to offer optimism in a world full of injustice.

3. E3

   3. Five Senses

   1 year ago

   Many people, including Muslims, have a uniform, static image of Islam. However, there is enormous diversity in how Islam is experienced across different regions and periods. In The Five Senses, Islamic scholar and Arabist Christian Lange takes us on a journey through the multifaceted nature of Islam. He does so based on his research into the five senses: the windows through which we listen, see, hear, smell and feel the world. Strolling through the fragrant streets of Fez, Morocco, Lange shares his personal motivation for this unique, long-term project and his mission as a non-Muslim to bring East and West closer together. What is it like to step into another person's world?

4. E2

   2. The Digital Dilemma

   1 year ago

   From homework to grocery shopping and from health care to farm life - the human experience is changed drastically by the seemingly unstoppable onset of data, algorithms and AI. But is this an improvement? Ethicist Tamar Sharon researches how digitalisation changes our lives and how Big Tech embeds itself into ever more aspects of the public domain. Do we profit from this development, or does it primarily pad the pockets of Silicon Valley giants? Sharon advocates for regulation as well as a shift in thinking so that technology once again serves the public interest.

5. E1

   1. Interplay

   1 year ago

   In the countryside in northern Uganda, armed with petri dishes, cardboard cups and a vacuum cleaner, internationally renowned malaria researcher Teun Bousema, along with PhD student Daniel Ayo and his team, seeks to unravel the mysterious life cycle of the malaria parasite. But the parasite is elusive, constantly mutating, which increases the threat of drug resistance. Is this mutated parasite more infectious to mosquitoes? Interplay depicts the daily reality of the tireless scientific battle against this formidable and multifaceted opponent. The malaria mosquito is born ‘clean’. Only after an infected blood meal and taking on various forms does the malaria parasite end up in the mosquito’s saliva, ready to claim a new human victim when the mosquito next bites. ‘It’s such a clever beast,’ says Bousema.