All Docs

All Directors

About us

People

All co-producers

Press

News

Ammodo

Privacy and Cookie statement

Disclaimer

Colofon

Ready for a new perspective? Since 2023, Ammodo Docs has been presenting short documentaries about the work of groundbreaking scientists and artists. Through the lens of renowned Dutch filmmakers, you get to see how original thinkers address the challenges of today.
Ammodo Docs. Forward-thinking films.

Home

1-standaard-still-dear-home-of-scars

1. Standaard still Dear Home of Scars

All Documentaries

A new installation by Ibrahim Mahama exposes the colonial ‘scars in the landscape’ in Northern Ghana – and inspires the local community.

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.
&nbsp;
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.

Dear Home of Scars

The Lebanese-Dutch artist Mounira Al Solh is confronted with the reality of violence in her home region – her engaged, playful and colourful art is the antidote. 

stills-10

Mounira Al Solh

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.’ 
&nbsp;
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. 
&nbsp;

Dancing on the Ruins

Mounira Al Solh in Dancing on the Ruins - AmmodoDocs

Evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers takes us along on her epic quest to map the world’s fungi networks and understand their behaviour before it’s too late.

1-12

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.
&nbsp;
The Underground Astronaut follows evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, named one of the 2022 <a href="https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2022/6213878/toby-kiers/">TIME100 Next Innovators</a>, 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.”
&nbsp;

The Underground Astronaut

The Underground Astronaut | Watch the film about Toby Kiers

Intrigued by their skilful way of rolling sailboats up and down the beach, visual artist Jonathas de Andrade attempts to capture the ingenious choreography of the traditional jangadeiros (sailors).

10-4

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.
&nbsp;
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.

Northern Winds

Watch the documentaries 

In Three Acts, world-renowned opera director Pierre Audi unpacks the elements needed to open a world of fantasy and dreams: stage design, singers and audience. 

A celebration of his profound impact on the world of opera.



stills-6

Stills (6)

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?
&nbsp;
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. &#8216;You help people find a connection with themselves.&#8217;

Three Acts

Three Acts - AmmodoDocs

In a world driven by data, algorithms and AI, Tamar Sharon asks the question: does digitalisation work for us, or against us?

stills-3

Stills (3)

From homework to grocery shopping and from healthcare to farm life – the human experience is changed drastically by the seemingly unstoppable onset of data, algorithms and AI.
&nbsp;
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.

The Digital Dilemma

The Digital Dilemma - AmmodoDocs

In his multimedia operas, composer and director Michel van der Aa explores the big themes of our digitised age, contemplating existential questions in the border area between humans, machines and consciousness.

stills-11

Stills (11)

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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;

In Between Realities

In Between Realities | Watch the film about Michel van der Aa

Using the laws of physics to build a revolutionary quantum internet before 2030? Stephanie Wehner believes it can be done. 

stills-5

Stills

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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;

Moonshot Mission

While rehearsing a play full of magic and trolls, Eline Arbo reflects on being a socially engaged
theater director in a turbulent world.

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.
&nbsp;
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 nineteenthcentury Haugtussa are profoundly contemporary.
&nbsp;

Home

Watch the documentaries

Ibrahim Mahama
In Dear Home of Scars

Mounira Al Solh
In Dancing on the Ruins

Toby Kiers
In The Underground Astronaut

Jonathas de Andrade
In Northern Winds

Pioneers

Watch the documentaries

Ibrahim MahamaIn Dear Home of Scars

Mounira Al SolhIn Dancing on the Ruins

Toby KiersIn The Underground Astronaut

Jonathas de AndradeIn Northern Winds

Pioneers

Ibrahim Mahama
In Dear Home of Scars

Mounira Al Solh
In Dancing on the Ruins

Toby Kiers
In The Underground Astronaut

Jonathas de Andrade
In Northern Winds