Sonja Barend

Documentary about the work and life of Hedy d'Ancona (1937) and the issues she has always championed: women's rights, the right to self-determination, and a dignified end of life. Interviews with D'Ancona are interwoven with scenes of women who, in 2022, are committed to the same themes, such as abortion activist Eva de Goeij, PvdA alderwoman Marjolein Moorman, and euthanasia advocate Adrienne Buschmann. The fight for equality remains relevant, and D'Ancona's ideas are still worth fighting for.

For thirty years she was the undisputed queen of the Dutch talk show: Sonja Barend. With Coen Verbraak, she takes one last look back: at her motivations, the history of her family, and her father.

Colleagues and friends look back on the life of writer Joost Zwagerman.

Cornelis van Doorn is the CEO of VD, a meat factory as well as a developer of contraceptives. Cornelis is the patriarch of the Van Doorn family: a decadent bunch of loose morals who only lust for money and power. When the man is thinking about retiring, he has to find the right heir to take over the family business.

For nearly twenty years, she was the chief editor of the now-legendary VARA programs with Sonja Barend. In addition, she was instrumental in the creation of the still-successful general knowledge quizzes Per seconde wijzer and Twee voor twaalf. She has never had any trouble with a place in the background: program maker, director, and chief editor Ellen Blazer. Coen Verbraak spoke with Ellen and with various colleagues about her important role in Dutch television history.

No synopsis available yet.

In the harbor of Rotterdam, an action group called "Redpeace" discovers illegal weapon transports. Those are executed by shipping-trade Kusters Shipping Company. The discovery is annoying for Ann Kusters, the wife of Erik Kusters. She functions as a translator with the European parliament. It gets even worse when Ann is discovered and photographed while she's having an intimate rendez-vous with a french politician, whose investigating the illegal weapon transports. Short after, the man is found dead...

VARA exists 80 years! We celebrate this with the DVD you have in your hands. About 5 hours top entertainment from VARA's entertainment cabinet. Fragments that will take you from 1958 to now. You still remember Dorus with his mouse trap? Or the "Kopspijkers" cabaret with the song "One Day Fly", Theo Maassen with his farewell speech of Henk van den Tillaart or Harry Vermegen and Henk Spaan with Popie Jopie? That's all on this DVD, and more!

On February 29 – Leap Day – we celebrate Sonja Barend's birthday. She turns eighty then. She made countless programs, and when you watch them back, you can sense the spirit of the times. Sonja was the Netherlands' first true talk show host. She dared to ask anything, was critical, broke taboos, and had an opinion. In the night of Saturday, February 29 to March 1, we pay tribute to her. Dutch presenters will talk for an hour about what Sonja meant to them and to the Dutch television landscape.