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NPO

Npo 2doc

Format

Auteur Documentary / Feature Documentary

Length

50–80 min

Timeslot

Monday 22:25 on NPO 2

Exposé length

3–5 pages

Editorial tone

Auteur-film quality. 2Doc shows high-end documentaries with strong artistic signature. Films can be observational, essayistic, or investigative — what matters is cinematic quality and depth of engagement. Festival-ready. Not TV reportage, but cinema for the screen. The director has their own voice and perspective.

What this format covers

  • ●Dutch society: identity, migration, colonial politics
  • ●International auteur documentaries with festival quality
  • ●Personal stories with universal resonance
  • ●Political and social topics from unexpected perspectives
  • ●Cultural phenomena and artistic portraits
  • ●Long-term observations and coming-of-age documentaries
  • ●Mix of Dutch original productions and international acquisitions

What this format does NOT want

  • ●Standard TV reportage without cinematic ambition
  • ●Commissioned films without personal signature
  • ●Pure information formats or explainer films
  • ●True crime without artistic merit
  • ●Natural history films (for that: other NPO slots)
  • ●Promotional or PR-adjacent productions

Visual expectations

Cinema quality for the screen. Strong visual language, considered framing, distinctive visual signature. Image design is part of the narrative, not illustration. Shooting ratio and editing at auteur-film level. Both observational long takes and dynamic montage possible — depending on artistic concept.

Expected exposé structure

  1. Title (cinematic, distinctive)
  2. Logline (2–3 sentences: core of the story, cinematic approach)
  3. Synopsis: the story the film tells
  4. Cinematic approach: how is it told? Perspective, style, structure
  5. Director — artistic vision and connection to subject
  6. Protagonists and access
  7. Production plan, budget range, co-production partners
  8. Festival strategy (if applicable)

Example productions

  • 2Doc: De Kinderen van Ruinerwold (Die Kinder von Ruinerwold)
  • 2Doc: Shadow Game (Fluechtlingskinder auf der Balkanroute)
  • 2Doc: My Neighbours (ueber Nachbarschaft in Amsterdam-Nieuw-West)
  • 2Doc: Broers (Brothers — drei Brueder im Amsterdamer Westen)
  • 2Doc: Love is Blind (Liebe unter Blinden)
European perspective required

Editorial notes

2Doc is the most important slot for auteur documentaries on Dutch television. Films come from various Omroepen (VPRO, NTR, KRO-NCRV, HUMAN, etc.) and are co-financed by Nederlands Filmfonds, CoBO Fund, and European funders. International co-productions explicitly welcome. Many 2Doc films screen at IDFA, Berlinale, Sundance. The slot has wide range — from intimate portraits to epic international films. Pitch language: Dutch or English.

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