István Szabó will deliver the 15th Variety Cinema Militans Lecture in conclusion of the Holland Film Meeting at the 25th Netherlands Film Festival. On October 2nd, the Hungarian filmmaker will share his vision on the future of cinema in Ottone in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The fixed theme of the Lecture, 'the position and viability of cinema in the present age', is an adaptation of the theme of Dutch film critic and writer Menno ter Braak's essay 'Cinema Militans' (1926).

István Szabó was born in Budapest in 1938. In 1961 he graduated as a film director from the Academy of the Art of Theatre and Film in Budapest. His first short - his graduation film - was shown in numerous countries around the world. As a member of the young filmmakers' Béla Balázs Studio, at the age of 26, he directed his first feature film THE AGE OF DAYDREAMING, which turned him into a leading figure of the new generation of Hungarian filmmakers in the sixties. Szabó has won several awards, including the American Academy Award for MEPHISTO, the British Academy Award, the David Donatello Award, the Visconti Award, the Silver Bear in Berlin and the Fellini Award in Italy in 2002. He also directed several operas and theatre and is a university professor.

Selected film projects for the Netherlands Production Platform:
From Friday 30 September to Sunday 2 October, the Netherlands Film Festival organises the seventh edition of the Netherlands Production Platform, presenting this year seventeen Dutch and foreign feature film projects in development to a group of Dutch and international producers and financiers.

Building on last year's success with the European Audiovisual Conference 'New Horizons for Europe's Audiovisual Sector' and the EAVE Forum 'West Meets East', the developing film industry and film talent from outside Western Europe is well represented in this programme, including projects from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary and Poland. The projects selected from the neighbouring countries of Germany, Belgium and the UK will be enhanced this year for the first time by one from Switzerland. The Dutch selection reflects a mature industry made up of experienced directors and production companies as well as new and emerging talent. The projects selected are a broad mix of genres with potential appeal to an international audience.

The Dutch projects are eligible for the NPP Development Prize of 5.000 euro, which is supported by Kodak. The prize will be awarded on Saturday 1 October.

The following projects have been selected for the Platform:

- ALLEZ, EDDY! (Belgium) by production company Manta Film (Jacqueline de Goeij), director Gert Embrechts;
- ATLANTIS (Netherlands) by production company Waterland Film & TV (Wilant Boekelman and Jan van der Zanden), director Digna Sinke;
- EXHIBITION (Netherlands) by production company Film Events (Jan Doense), director Rudolf van den Berg;
- GIRLS (Hungary) by production company Inforg Stúdió (Andras Muhi), director Tamas Buvari;
- THE GUN (Poland) by production company Apple Film (Dariusz Jablonski), director Hubert Taczanowski;
- A HANDFUL OF SAND (Netherlands) by production company Staccato Films (Emjay Rechsteiner), written by Carel Donck;
- THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS (Netherlands) by production company Volya Films (Denis Vaslin), director Ineke Smits;
- THE JOURNEY OF THE EMPTY BOTTLES (Netherlands) by production company De Productie (René Goossens and Annemiek van Gorp), director Karim Traïdia;
- KING OF THE DOCKS (United Kingdom) by production company Photon Film Ltd. (Christiaan Weiland), director Charles Harris; -KINO LIKA (Croatia) by production company Kinorama (Ankica Tilic), director Dalibor Matanic;
- LIFE WITH LEO (Germany) by production company MementoFilm Gmbh (Markus Gruber), written by Christoph Busch;
- NADINE (Netherlands) by production company Rocketta Film (Erik Schut), director Erik de Bruyn; -SMOKE & OCHRE (Netherlands) by production company Riba Film (Arry Voorsmit), director Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen;
- THE WAR IS OVER (Switserland) by production company Kamera300 (Assaf Shapira and Mitko Panov), director Mitko Panov;
- WHITE (Germany) by production company MMM Film Zimmermann & Co Gmbh (Ulrike Zimmermann), director Angelina Maccarone, written by Susanne Billig;
- WHITE WOMEN (Netherlands) by production company Rinkel Film & TV Productions BV (Reinier Selen and Edwin van Meurs), director Melinda Jansen;
- YEMIN, OR IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (Bosnia & Herzegovina) by production company Refresh Production (Ademir Kenovic), director Srdjan Vuletic.

In collaboration with the Erich Pommer Institut, a professional training organisation based in Germany, the NPP programme includes two workshops (September 30 and October 2) focusing on the legal and financial aspects of international co-production, including a case study of the Dutch/German co-production SPORTSMAN OF THE CENTURY (a NPP project in 2003) and a session on Rights Clearance. EAVE will give an introduction to their courses for Dutch producers on September 29, and Fine BV will present the long-awaited new tax measures for the Dutch film industry on September 30.

Apart from the NPP and the Variety Cinema Militans Lecture, the Holland Film Meeting consists of The Benelux Screenings (September 30 - October 3) presenting the best of new Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg features and feature length documentaries to international buyers, distributors, TV programmers, festival directors, sales agents and film journalists. A comprehensive video library is available for individual viewing and a selection of titles will be screened in the festival cinemas.The programme will be selected in collaboration with Flanders Image, Holland Film and Film Fund Luxembourg. Another highlight is the Binger-Screen International Interview on October 1.

The Netherlands Film Festival takes place from 28 September to 7 October 2005 in Utrecht, The Netherlands.