The foreign policy of the Netherlands is based on four basic commitments: to the Atlantic cooperation, to European integration, to international development and to international law. While historically the Kingdom of the Netherlands was a neutral state, since 1945 it has become a member of NATO, the United Nations, the European Union and many other international organizations. The Dutch economy is very open and relies on international trade. During and after the 17th century—its Golden Age—the Dutch built up a commercial and colonial empire. It was a leading shipping and naval power and was often at war with England, its main rival. Its main colonial holding was Indonesia, which fought for and achieved independence after 1945. The historical ties inherited from its colonial past still influence the foreign relations of the Netherlands. Foreign trade policy is handled by the European Union. The Dutch have been active in international peacekeeping roles.
Arnon Yasha Yves Grunberg is a Dutch writer of novels, essays, and columns, as well as a journalist. He published some of his work under the heteronym Marek van der Jagt. He lives in New York. His work has been translated into 30 languages. In 2022 he received the PC Hooftprijs, a Dutch literary lifetime achievement award. His most acclaimed and successful novels are Blue Mondays and Tirza. The New York Times called the latter ‘grimly comic and unflinching (…) while not always enjoyable, it is never less than enthralling’. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described him as ‘the Dutch Philip Roth’.
Halina Reijn is a Dutch actress, writer and film director.
Bob Peeters is a Belgian football manager and former player currently manager of Eerste Divisie club Helmond Sport.
The Cinekid Festival is the largest international film, television and new media festival for children aged 4 to 14 held at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It started as a small children's film festival and has now grown into a large organisation that develops activities for children in the areas of film, television and new media throughout the year. These activities are presented alongside the festival, whereas the festival itself screens films from all over the world and a selection of the best television programs for children. It also organises several new media activities. Each year the festival is attended by over 50,000 children, parents and (international) guests.
Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (Noorderslag) features only Dutch artists. The conference is held during all four days of the event. Several awards are presented during Eurosonic Noorderslag: the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, the European Festivals Awards, the Buma Cultuur Pop Award (Popprijs), the Pop Media Award, The Feather, the "Iron Venue and Festival Animals" and the Buma Music Meets Tech Award.
Sigrid Agnes Maria Kaag is a Dutch politician, humanitarian and diplomat. She was the leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) and served as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and as Minister of Finance.
Marwan Kenzari is a Dutch actor born in The Hague, Netherlands. Starting his career in 2008, he first came to prominence for his role in the 2013 film Wolf, which earned him a Golden Calf award for Best Actor. Since 2016, he has been starring in English-language films, including Aladdin (2019), The Old Guard (2020) and Black Adam (2022), which earned him international recognition.
Job, Joris & Marieke is a Dutch animation studio founded by Job Roggeveen (1979), Joris Oprins (1980) and Marieke Blaauw (1979).
Gijsbrecht Thijmen Matthias "Gijs" Blom is a Dutch actor. He starred in the films Jongens (2014) and The Forgotten Battle (2020). He received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his performance in the Netflix fantasy series The Letter for the King (2020).
Diederik van Rooijen is a Dutch television and film director.
Anne+ is a 2018 Dutch drama television series that premiered on BNNVARA and 3LAB on 30 September 2018. Set in Amsterdam, it follows the love life of Anne, a twenty four year-old lesbian. The series is created by Maud Wiemeijer, Valerie Bisscheroux, and Hanna van Vliet, and produced by Millstreet Films.
Holly Mae Brood is a Dutch actress and presenter. She is best known for her role as Amy Kortenaer in the soap opera Goede tijden, slechte tijden and the spin-off series Nieuwe Tijden. She is also known as co-host of the Dutch/Flemish version of Love Island.
The East is a 2020 Dutch war film directed by Jim Taihuttu.
Meskina is a 2021 Dutch romantic comedy film. The film was a passion project of Dutch-Moroccan Stand-up comedian Soundos El Ahmadi, who wanted to see more representation of the Moroccan community in Dutch films.
"De diepte" is a single by Dutch singer S10. The song represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, after being selected by the Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS. It is the first time since 2010 that a song sung entirely in Dutch represented the country at Eurovision. A week after the contest, the song topped the Dutch singles chart. The song was later included in S10's third studio album, Ik besta voor altijd zolang jij aan mij denkt, released on 28 October 2022.
Paul van Loon is a Dutch writer of children's literature. A common element in his books is that they feature monster characters. His best-known books are Dolfje Weerwolfje and De Griezelbus , which have been adapted for the theatre and film. His book Raveleijn has been made into a television series, and is an amusement park show in theme park Efteling.
Anne+ is a 2021 Dutch drama film directed by Valerie Bisscheroux and written by Maud Wiemeijer. It is a continuation of the popular television series Anne+. The film was released in Dutch cinemas in October 2021 and got a worldwide release on Netflix in February 2022. The film has a role for non-binary actor Thorn Roos de Vries making them the first non-binary actor with a major role in a Dutch film. De Volkskrant gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying it felt more like a long television episode than a film. The film played at the 2022 Netherlands Film Festival.
Anne-Lot Hoek is a Dutch historian, independent researcher and author. She writes historical non-fiction, articles and academic publications.
Robin Kester is a Dutch musician and songwriter from Rotterdam. Her band consists of Sam van Hoogstraten (guitar), Thijs Visscher (bass), Joep van Osch (drums) and Stef Koenis (keyboards). Her music style is often compared with that of Beth Gibbons and Weyes Blood.
