April
| Do. 02 | | Working Progress: Filmmakers’ Community Event |
| Vr. 03 | | Day of Wrath |
| Wo. 08 | | VHS Session: Geert Lovink’s Private Archive |
| Do. 09 | | Brazil Unfiltered: Ouvidor |
| Vr. 10 | | Azart – Come Make Art |
| Za. 11 | | New Old Polygon presented by Cheawon Shin (workshop + screening) |
| Za. 11 | | Kissable Screens: Porn, Peace, Politics – by Porn Film Festival Amsterdam |
| Zo. 12 | | We Are Making a Film About Mark Fisher |
| Do. 16 | | Brazil Unfiltered: Rejeito |
| Vr. 17 | | Cavia in Concert: The Adventures of Prince Achmed with live score by West Side Trio |
| Za. 18 | | 8sploitation Grindhouse Cinema #2 |
| Zo. 19 | | SOTU Festival 2026 |
| Do. 23 | | De Spelende Mens |
| Vr. 24 | | Brazil Unfiltered: Southern Sorceresses |
| Zo. 26 | | As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty |
| Do. 30 | | GRFFNL presents: Afterlov |
Donderdag 2 april, 20:30
SPECIAL
Working Progress: Filmmakers’ Community Event
EN Working Progress is a series of screenings that enable filmmakers to present their unfinished works to meet audiences with the aim of receiving feedback, generating a conversation and network for filmmakers and other film people! Filmmakers and works are chosen through an open call on a monthly basis. For interested parties, please email: workingprogress.ams@gmail.com
The screening will present 3 work in progress films or audiovisual works, with each filmmaker or artist receiving up to 30 minutes to present their unfinished work and talk to the audience about the work. More details about the selected projects to follow in the week before the screening.
Entrance: Donation-based
Vrijdag 3 april, 20:30
CLASSIC
Day of Wrath
Carl Th. Dreyer | 1943 | Denmark | 97’ | EN subtitles
EN Legendary Danish filmmaker’s take on the age of witch hunts and burning stakes. Here, Carl Th. Dreyer discusses themes of belief, destiny, ostracism, and superstition. In this grim production, Dreyer presents a story of Anna, a young woman whose mother was accused of witchcraft. She believes that this fate is also bound to happen to her. She begins to spiral as she develops love for her husband’s son from his first marriage.
This can be considered the third film of Carl Th. Dreyer, which stirs up the dilemma of women martyred by the Inquisition. Previously, this subject was also included in his Leaves from Satan’s Book (1920) and in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). The film is an accusation towards the social system that enslaves the individual, which is engulfed in obsession with sin, suspicion and hatred.
Unrushed, elegant exploration of the psychological backbone of the characters whose core value seems to be dogged determination.
Woensdag 8 april, 20:30
SPECIAL
VHS Session: Geert Lovink’s Private Archive
Various | 80’
EN VHS didn’t just bring cinema into living rooms; it also allowed low-budget and far-flung productions to travel, circulate, and find audiences outside official circuits. These VHS Archival Sessions are an experiment in bringing that experience back to life.
This particular evening offers a rare, behind-the-scenes peek into Geert Lovink’s personal VHS archive. A pioneer of tactical media, activist, and media theorist, Lovink has amassed an enviable collection of tapes over the years. In this session, he will present a selection from his archive of personal recordings from the 1990s, focusing on the rise of tactical media and the video-activist dimensions of early cyberculture.
Tickets: Donation-based or Cineville
Donderdag 9 april, 20:30
DOCU
Brazil Unfiltered:
Ouvidor + Q&A
Matias Borgström | 2023 | Brazil | 74’ | EN subtitles
NL In Ouvidor, het grootste kunstkraakpand van Latijns Amerika, leven 120 kunstenaars uit verschillende landen samen in een levendige micromaatschappij in São Paulo, waar elk van de 13 verdiepingen functioneert als een aparte wijk die gewijd is aan een andere vorm van artistieke expressie. Terwijl ze zich verzetten tegen voortdurende dreigingen van uitzetting door de Braziliaanse regering met fascistische neigingen, worden de interne spanningen aangewakkerd door de sponsoring van hun Art Biennial door Red Bull.
Brazil Unfiltered brengt van 14 maart t/m 14 mei zes urgente documentaires samen die sociale onrechtvaardigheid in Brazilië laten zien en onverbloemde perspectieven bieden vanaf de frontlinies van verzet. Met territoriale strijd als centraal thema beweegt het programma zich van de verdediging van inheemse landrechten naar grassroots-activisme tegen stedelijk geweld en marginalisering.
EN In Ouvidor, the largest art squat in Latin America, 120 artists from various countries coexist in a vibrant micro-society in São Paulo, where each of the 13 floors functions like a distinct neighborhood dedicated to a different form of artistic expression. As they resist constant eviction threats from a government with fascist tendencies in Brazil, internal tensions are fueled by Red Bull’s sponsorship of their Art Biennial.
Brazil Unfiltered brings together, from 14 March to 14 May, six urgent documentary films confronting social injustice in Brazil, offering unvarnished perspectives from the frontlines of resistance. Centering territorial struggles, the program moves from indigenous land defense to grassroots activism against urban violence and marginalisation.
Vrijdag 10 april, 20:30
DOCU
Azart – Come Make Art + Q&A
Masha Novikova & Annike Kaljouw | 2023 | NL | 83’ | EN subtitles
NL Deze documentaire vertelt over de kleurrijke en vrolijke geschiedenis van het Amsterdamse narrenschip Azart, ofwel Ship of Fools, dat ruim 30 jaar over de wereld voer om theater, vreugde en dwaasheid te brengen. Met aan het roer de bedenker van dit varend kunstwerk: kapitein en acteur August Dirks, die ruim 30 jaar op de Azart woonde en werkte. Het Amsterdamse Azartplein is genoemd naar deze zottenschuit. Kapitein August wilde de VOC-route varen, zei hij, maar dan wel op een andere manier. “Niet om te stelen en te kelen, maar om te spelen en te delen.” Inmiddels gestrand – letterlijk – op een Zuid-Amerikaans strandje, waar het wonderlijke verhaal nog altijd verder gaat, onder leiding van een lokale theatergroep.
Na de vertoning zal er een Q&A plaatsvinden met de makers van de film, met kans op aanwezigheid van August. Het fotoboek AZART De Blauwe Schuit, filmposters en meer zullen deze avond te koop zijn.
EN This documentary tells about the colorful and cheerful history of the Amsterdam Ship of Fools, which sailed around the world for more than 30 years to bring theatre, joy and folly. At the helm is the creator of this sailing work of art: captain and actor August Dirks, who lived and worked on the Azart for more than 30 years. Amsterdam's Azartplein is named after this fool's boat. Captain August wanted to sail the VOC route, he said, but in a different way. “Not to steal and kill, but to play and share.” Now stranded – literally – on a South American beach, where the wonderful story continues, led by a local theater group.
After the screening, a Q&A with the makers of the film will take place, with chances of having the presence of August. The photo book AZART De Blauwe Schuit, film posters and more will be for sale this evening.
Zaterdag 11 april, 14:00 - 16:00 Workshop
Zaterdag 11 april, 17:00 - 18:00 Screening
EXPERIMENTAL
New Old Polygon
presented by Cheawon Shin
EN Cheawon explores the relationship between labor and artistic expression. She has used 3D-software as well as other digital tools as the central instrument of her creative process. However, she is discouraged from seeing AI-generated images and videos, because it erases the value and uniqueness of characteristic digital labor.
Throughout history, when disruptive technologies emerge, the media they displace often take on new artistic meaning. For example, stop-motion animation carries a sense of tactility and imperfection, made meaningful through the visible effort and time invested in it. Out of admiration of the manual labor behind conventional 3D techniques, Cheawon presents a workshop and screening that explores how the medium of non-AI 3D tools itself can lend meaning to an artwork.
In this workshop, we sculpt an object using clay and make a 3D digital scene together.
Sculptural materials will be provided on-site. Please bring your phone to scan.
A laptop with Blender installed is optional if you want to rig your object for animation.
After the workshop, there will be a 3D animation screening titled Pink that shows a form of craftsmanship, focusing on how a labor-intensive process in the non-digital realm can bring artistic value to digital creation. The animation isn’t always “perfect” or seamless, but that is the point. Those imperfections are the “human touch"; the mental and physical labor that still matter in a digital world.
To sign up the workshop, please send email to shincheaone@gmail.com
Entrance: Donation-based
Zaterdag 11 april, 20:30
SEX POSITIVE
Kissable Screens: Porn, Peace, Politics
by Porn Film Festival Amsterdam
Various | 81’ | EN subtitles
EN Kissable Screens, a monthly sex positive screening of Cavia, will recall films that were presented at Porn Film Festival Amsterdam 2026. It is a favourable moment to gain a new perspective on Pornography which can be artistic, political, moving, thought-provoking and a catalyst for self-discovery.
What is more pornographic: the representation of sex… or the representation of war? If, according to some, porn (and sex work) must disappear, should we also censor images of war (and war itself)? Is this a matter of censorship or rather the denial of human reality? These films resist silencing by using pornography to speak out against fascism, xenophobia, whorephobia and imperialism.
Solidarity with the Garbage Workers on Strike | Lasse Långström | 2025 | Germany | 4’
The antifa faggots lend not only their voices, but their entire bodies to the struggle.
Rat trap | alterotics: Anais Alias & Avery Jaye | 2025 | USA | 5’
Angel is your typical rat girl: sneaking through grocery stores, shoplifting cheeses, scurrying. The world is her dumpster. Until one night she falls into the clutches of a pervert ratologist and turns into rat-human transgenesis…
The Red Analects | YuChen & Carlos Hurtado Múnera | 2025 | Germany | 7’
An erotic-essay film where language, memory and images of American propaganda and words from Confucius’ Analects echos through scenes of intense intimacy. The Red Analects explores how speech becomes flesh, how naming becomes touching, and how consciousness lives in the realm of the erotic.
The feminist's dungeon | Lady Rochester & Eugène Plantagenet | 2024 | France | 11’
A young far right activist gave a flyer to the wrong person. He couldn't possibly start to imagine what could happen to him if only he knew... His mind is not the only thing that he'd lost.
The war trilogy I: The strength | Colectivo.gore, Erotida Films & The Wicked Place | 2025 | Spain | 7’
"Peace has made us weak," said Milei's fascism. The Strength, the first part of the war trilogy, defends the strength of dissident bodies.
Gregory Übermensch Smoking Hot | Margie Schnibbe | 2025 | USA | 6’
L.A., trashy mugs, shared German heritage and lots of smoke… and somehow even Nietzsche made it into the mix. Part fetish flick, part performance piece, this smoky jerk-off jam fuses archival disaster, punk rock and philosophical foreplay.
You’re not a Regular: A Porn made for Almans | Silicone Pussy | 2025 | Germany | 25’
A migrant transmasc sex worker tries to seduce you into becoming his client. Would you? Follow him through the dark streets of a hostile, nightmarish Berlin, where reflections and recollections blur the lines between personal and collective memory.
Good Dogs go to Heaven | Lasse Långström | 2025 | Germany | 3’
Sabotaging the war industry turned out to be really good karma for a dog facing the afterlife.
Zondag 12 april, 16:00
CONTEMPORARY
Dutch premiere
We Are Making a Film About Mark Fisher
Simon Poulter | 2025 | UK | 65’ | English, EN subtitles
EN We Are Making a Film About Mark Fisher is a cinematic experiment exploring the continuing relevance of the late theorist’s ideas on capitalism, culture, and the future. Directed by Simon Poulter and Sophie Mellor (collaborating as Close and Remote) the film was made in 2024-2025 using Instagram (@markfisherfilm) as a methodological tool to find collaborators, generate research and disseminate content.
With over 70 invited contributors listed, the film blends documentary, performance, new music, and hauntological fiction. The main narrative follows Parkins – a time-slipped character – through ghostly landscapes and digital spaces, tracing Fisher’s thoughts from the 1990s to our algorithmic present. A second narrative emerges from interviews conducted with theorists, journalists, and artists whose life and work have been influenced by him.
The film embodies Fisher’s call for collective imagination beyond capitalist realism. It ends in the room with a discussion about agency and what we can do next.
Donderdag 16 april, 20:30
DOCU
Brazil Unfiltered:
Rejeito + Q&A
Pedro de Filippis | 2023 | Brazil | 75’ | EN subtitles
NL Na de ergste doorbraak van een afvaldam in de geschiedenis dreigen nieuwe dammen te bezwijken, met gevolgen voor miljoenen mensen in Minas Gerais, Brazilië. Een milieuadviseur van de staat confronteert de werkwijze van de overheid en mijnbouwbedrijven, terwijl bewoners zich verzetten in hun bedreigde gemeenschappen. Geselecteerd voor IDFA en HotDocs in 2023.
Brazil Unfiltered brengt van 14 maart t/m 14 mei zes urgente documentaires samen die sociale onrechtvaardigheid in Brazilië laten zien en onverbloemde perspectieven bieden vanaf de frontlinies van verzet. Met territoriale strijd als centraal thema beweegt het programma zich van de verdediging van inheemse landrechten naar grassroots-activisme tegen stedelijk geweld en marginalisering.
EN Following the worst tailings dam collapses in history, new dams threaten to burst, impacting millions of people in Minas Gerais, Brazil. A state environmental advisor confronts the modus operandi of the government and mining companies, while residents resist in their threatened communities. Selected at IDFA and HotDocs in 2023.
Brazil Unfiltered brings together, from 14 March to 14 May, six urgent documentary films confronting social injustice in Brazil, offering unvarnished perspectives from the frontlines of resistance. Centering territorial struggles, the program moves from indigenous land defense to grassroots activism against urban violence and marginalisation.
Vrijdag 17 april, 20:00
SPECIAL
Cavia in Concert
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
with live score by West Side Trio
Lotte Reiniger | 1926 | Germany | 66’ | EN subtitles
NL Na een geweldige (en volledig uitverkochte!) eerste editie van Cavia in Concert, onze reeks filmvertoningen met live muziekoptredens die plaatsvinden in de prachtige hal van de Nassaukerk in samenwerking met Podium Nassau, presenteren we met trots een andere legendarische Duitse stille film uit 1926: The Adventures of Prince Achmed, door Lotte Reiniger! De West Side Trio, een strijkersensemble dat akoestische instrumenten combineert met elektronische klanken, zal de film live begeleiden. MEER→
EN After an amazing (and very sold out!) first edition of Cavia in Concert, our series of film and music performances organized in the amazing hall of the Nassaukerk in collaboration with Podium Nassau, Filmhuis Cavia is proud to present to you another legendary German silent film from 1926: The Adventures of Prince Achmed, by Lotte Reiniger! The West Side Trio, a string ensemble blending acoustic instruments with electronics sounds, will provide a live scoring of the film. MORE→
Zaterdag 18 april, 20:30
SPECIAL
8sploitation Grindhouse Cinema #2
Various | 100’
NL Uit de ondergrondse Super 8-wereld komt de tweede editie van 8sploitation Grindhouse Cinema voort!
Super 8mm films worden gemaakt door filmmakers met veel passie en toewijding. Je vindt ze verstopt overal op het internet. Filmhuis Cavia biedt een thuis aan deze zeldzame en unieke projecten. 24 korte films in allerlei genres, gemaakt door verschillende filmmakers. 100 minuten vol stof, krassen, korrels en pure grindhouse cinema!
EN From the underground Super 8 caverns emerges the second edition of 8sploitation Grindhouse Cinema!
Super 8mm films are being made by filmmakers with a lot of passion and dedication. You can find them hidden all over the internet. Filmhuis Cavia provides a home for these rare and unique projects. 24 short films in all kind of genres, made by different filmmakers. 100 minutes of dust, scratches, grain and pure grindhouse cinema!
The films:
Holy Moly! (Derick Crucius)
Liquify & If You Had Known (Lars Kemnitz)
Lower Astral Entity (Gwen Trutnau)
Super Void (El Zoid)
Look How Beautiful The Light Moves (Stefanie Weberhofer)
Take Care (Aaron Zeghers)
Paris Tour & Immersio (Sophie Bouloux)
To The Muse (Yannis Lianos)
Many Worlds (Adam Butcher)
Moroccan Slipback (Andy Rowe)
Leonora (Eliane Lima)
Debt (Roy Rezaäli)
Collapsing & In The Night (Non Films)
NYC (Maxime Michel)
The Sound Of The Sky Reflected In Water (Maximilien Luc Proctor)
Erroneous Desert Walk (Rasmus B. Jørgensen)
Puento Viejo (Jerónimo Cabrera Rodríguez)
Diary For Four Seasons (Christopher Lange)
Through A Window (Pieter Swier)
Violència, assot costumista (Marta Grimalt Canals)
Wicker Men (David Graham Scott)
Zondag 19 april, 18:00
SPECIAL
SOTU Festival 2026
NL SOTU (Sounds Of The Underground) Festival is een jaarlijks alternatief muziekfestival in Amsterdam sinds 2012. De 15e editie zal plaatsvinden van 16 t/m 19 april 2026, en zoals gewoonlijk op diverse locaties. SOTU heeft een passie voor genre-bending geluid en performances en is gefocust op de promotie van het experimentele, avant-garde en underground.
Het festival eindigt dit jaar in Cavia met een voornamelijk audiovisueel programma zoals experimenteel glasartiest Jo uit Berlijn, visual noise-artiest Eyeless in Damascus, Shlomo and the Blankferrett, VJ en piano duo National Loitery en eindigt met de anti-talent show The Worst Karaoke. MEER→
EN SOTU (Sounds Of The Underground) Festival is an annual alternative music festival in Amsterdam since 2012. The 15th edition will take place from April 16 to 19, 2026, and as usual at various locations. SOTU has a passion for genre-bending sound and performances which is focused on the promotion of the experimental, avant-garde and underground.
The festival will end in Cavia this year, with a predominantly audiovisual program featuring experimental glass artist Jo from Berlin, visual noise artist Eyeless in Damascus, Shlomo and the Blankferrett , VJ and piano duo National Loitery and ends with the anti-talent show The Worst Karaoke. MORE→
Tickets: €10 / passepartout
Donderdag 23 april, 20:30
DOCU
De Spelende Mens
+ nagesprek met filmmakers en Eric Duivenvoorden
Jan van Rijswijk en Chiel Pak | 2026 | NL | 30’ | Dutch, no subtitles
NL In de roerige jaren ’80 werd in de Staatsliedenbuurt een voormalige openbare lagere school gekraakt. Hiermee was Zaal 100 geboren: een plek waar cultuur op een laagdrempelige manier kon worden genoten. Inmiddels is de buurt eromheen rigoureus veranderd, maar klinkt achter de deuren in de De Wittenstraat nog altijd muziek, wordt er poëzie voorgedragen, en is er ruimte voor solidariteit.Ook Filmhuis Cavia bevindt zich in deze bijzondere buurt.
Aan de hand van archiefbeelden, gesprekken met krakers, vrijwilligers, en andere ooggetuigen ontstaat niet alleen een portret van Zaal 100, maar ook van een Amsterdamse buurt met een eigen geschiedenis. Tegelijkertijd dringen zich vragen op die nog altijd actueel zijn: hoe gaan we om met de ruimte in de stad en hoe geven we het samenleven vorm?
Zowel Jan van Rijswijk als Chiel Pak zullen aanwezig zijn bij deze screening.
Na afloop van de screening zal er een interactief gesprek plaatsvinden met voormalig kraker, socioloog en schrijver Eric Duivenvoorden, die ook in de documentaire voorkomt. We zullen het hebben over het belang van cultuur voor een leefbare buurt, en hoe het voor jonge mensen mogelijk is om zonder kapitaalkracht in de stad te kunnen blijven wonen. Ook het homo ludens idee van Huizinga, waar de titel van de film naar refereert, zal aan bod komen. Hoe speelt de mens vandaag?
Vrijdag 24 april, 20:30
DOCU
Brazil Unfiltered:
Southern Sorceresses (Para Onde Voam as Feiticeiras) + Q&A
Beto Amaral, Carla Caffé, Eliane Caffé | 2020 | Brazil | 89’ | EN subtitles
NL Southern Sorceresses volgt de optredens en improvisaties van zeven queer artiesten door de straten van het centrum van São Paulo in een filmische ervaring die de hardnekkigheid van vooroordelen over gender en ras zichtbaar maakt. Centraal in dit veelstemmige verhaal staat het belang van politiek verzet door middel van allianties van gezamenlijke strijd tussen LGBTQIA+-collectieven, zwarte mensen, inheemse volkeren en dakloze arbeiders.
Brazil Unfiltered brengt van 14 maart t/m 14 mei zes urgente documentaires samen die sociale onrechtvaardigheid in Brazilië laten zien en onverbloemde perspectieven bieden vanaf de frontlinies van verzet. Met territoriale strijd als centraal thema beweegt het programma zich van de verdediging van inheemse landrechten naar grassroots-activisme tegen stedelijk geweld en marginalisering.
EN Southern Sorceresses follows the drift of performances and improvisations by seven queer artists through the streets of downtown São Paulo in a cinematic experience that makes visible the persistence of archaic gender and race prejudices in the common imagination. At the heart of this polyphonic narrative is the importance of political resistance through alliances of common struggle between LGBTQIA+ collectives, black people, indigenous people, and homeless workers.
Brazil Unfiltered brings together, from 14 March to 14 May, six urgent documentary films confronting social injustice in Brazil, offering unvarnished perspectives from the frontlines of resistance. Centering territorial struggles, the program moves from indigenous land defense to grassroots activism against urban violence and marginalisation.
Zondag 26 april, 17:30
EXPERIMENTAL
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Jonas Mekas | 2000 | USA | 288’ | English, no subtitles
EN A deeply personal exploration of time passing through the lens of one of the most acclaimed American avant-garde directors. Often considered one of the most influential films in the whole of cinematic history.
A Lithuanian-born filmmaker presents the raw and sincere footage from his time in New York City, paying close attention to all of the simple beauties and pleasures that we encounter on our way through life. Brief smiles, familiar faces, crowded rooms, mundane activities, small cats, and dried flowers. Things that get lost in the everyday are brought to the spotlight here, things that we somewhat deprive of their solemnity.
Mekas manages to encapsulate roughly 30 years of his life in 12 chapters of this masterpiece. Dynamic cuts contrasted with his calm and poetic narration make this film exceptionally engaging and vital. One might say that nothing really happens in this film, yet we see life unfolding before our eyes. After all, sometimes fleeting moments affect us more than something sustained.
Donderdag 30 april, 20:30
CONTEMPORARY
GRFFNL presents: Afterlov
Stergios Paschos | 2016 | Greece | 94’ | EN subtitles
EN It's the summertime, Athens is boiling hot, but thirty-year-old Nikos is cooling off in the northern suburbs, drinking cocktails by the pool. The pool is not his, but Stavros's, who has asked Nikos to look after the house and his dog for the summer. The opportunity seems unique to the penniless musician, who decides to invite his ex-girlfriend, Sofia, there for a few days of vacation in the city. But when the unsuspecting Sofia arrives, the vacation in paradise goes off track. Nikos locks himself in the home studio with her, determined not to let her leave unless he finds out the reasons why they broke up. Why? Because he still hasn't understood. And if he doesn't understand, how will he get over her? Mentally. Because he's gotten over her romantically. Of course…
Afterlov, a post-romantic story of two people who refuse to grow up, follows a couple’s attempt to communicate. Blocked, imprisoned and unable to explain what is happening to them, the two heroes embark on a journey of exploration of all that unites and divides them. And while their journey initially seems like an innocent walk in the countryside, they will soon feel lost in an inhospitable and hostile environment…
A screening in preparation for the upcoming Greek Film Festival, May 22-24!