De Facto recommends

We are very happy to announce that our theatre series ‘Off the Map’ is shortlisted for the ‘Meestervertellers’, the prize for narrative journalism by Stichting Verhalende Journalistiek (NL). The winner will be announced on April 14, but this nomination already gives us a great boost.

Picture this: 1 in every 70 people on earth is currently displaced due to conflict, war, or persecution. The International Film Festival Rotterdam - January 29th to February 8th - is showcasing five worldpremieres this year about the experience and emotions of displacement.

On January 22, photographer Rob Hornstra will talk with Giorgi Aronia from Abkhazia about European borders, visible and invisible. ‘Taferelen’ is a dinner & talk, organized by Fotodok in Utrecht (NL), connected to the exhibition Lost Territories: Tracing Imperial Violence.

De Facto was never as close to a border as this week: on November 12, we will travel to Maastricht (NL) for our newest edition of Off the Map. Art, science, stamps and a quiz - all about borders. Join us!

Films, exhibitions, workshops and outdoor activities: visit the Dutch Mountain Film Festival, from 4-9 November in the South of the Netherlands.

On October 8, De Facto will seek to create space between the lines that are drawn between Palestine and Israel. Jareach Gilula plays Arabic and Israeli music on her harp, seeking to emphasize what these groups share — even though this is becoming increasingly challenging. Furthermore, we will zoom in on the conflict between India and Pakistan, which recently flared up again. We will talk about this with Aletta André, former India correspondent. And: the story of Nutopia. Join us in MIMIK (Deventer).

220 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in less than 23 months. De Facto supports the campaign calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip, an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters and that foreign press be granted independent access to the territory.

What is the true size of Africa? The ‘Correct The Map’ campaign revives the debate about the distorted Mercator projection and calls the world to adopt the Equal Earth projection, which reflects countries’ sizes more accurately.

How far would you go to uncover the truth? On August 22, De Facto’s Jorie Horsthuis will talk to Romy van Baarsen about the work of journalists at Europe’s borders, after watching Green Border, an impressive drama by Agnieszka Holland about the inhumane way in which migrants are treated. Join the conversation in MIMIK, Deventer.

On July 11, De Facto’s Jorie Horsthuis will interview Dutch-Kurdish film maker Beri Shalmashi about Kurdistan and the developments in the Middle East, after the screening of Half Moon, a film by Bahman Ghobadi.

The standard ‘design’ of the Dutch borderline is often seen as a self-evident representation. Yet this abstract form in no way reflects the geographical, social, and political reality. How can we rethink and redesign the representation of the multiplicity of Dutch borders? A workshop by designer and researcher Annelys de Vet and Professor of Geopolitics and Political Geography Henk van Houtum.

The dominant narrative insists that borders keep us safe. But from what, and from whom? What if borders are systems of power designed to divide, to dominate, to decide who gets to move, who gets to stay, and who is left behind? Film, talks, music and poetry on 20 June in Amsterdam.