Supported projects

Low Countries - In Flanders, we now speak Dutch. But that was not always the case. Less than a century ago, most people spoke their local dialect and the upper social class spoke Flemish-colored General Dutch or French.

OOSTAKKER - November 1967. The police raid the Martens-Sotteau orphanage in Oostakker. Following the report of a social worker, it is suspected that the children there are being abused. Father O., Capuchin and confessor, and the guardian P.J. were arrested.

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS - The Dutch Language Union is unique in the world; nowhere else do two countries cooperate so closely in a policy area. They have been doing so since 1980, when the Netherlands and Belgium concluded the Language Union Treaty. In it they solemnly declared their joint commitment to spread the Dutch language throughout the world.

AMSTERDAM - The official handbook of the Dutch-Flemish Association of Investigative Journalists covers the internationally renowned Story-Based Inquiry method: a fast and effective way to organise and carry out journalistic research. Around it, the authors discuss the social, psychological, legal, financial, ethical and societal aspects of investigative journalism.

BRUSSEL - Onder het gezag van commandant Walter Van Dyck volgen de jonge rekruten van het Belgisch leger een basisopleiding tot militair. Aan de hand van rollenspelen wordt hun toekomst als beroepssoldaat verbeeld.

GHENT - The measures that Flemish universities have taken to lower the threshold for reporting transgressive behaviour are effective at first sight. The number of reports has increased, among others at the University of Ghent, because victims (dare to) report faster. However, that does not mean that all problems are solved.

ARBIL - With Little Survivors Lotte Knaepen and Lisa Matthys made a report in Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The story is about the Yazidis, a people who were persecuted by ISIS. Many Yazidi children became victims of human trafficking, were separated from their families, used as slaves or trained as child soldiers in Raqqa. In this documentary, the makers follow four little survivors who have suffered trauma in various ways. But the focus is on their resilience, courage and creativity.

BRUSSELS - The five Flemish universities have made considerable progress in the area of gender equality in recent years. Yet at this rate it would take until 2050 before there is gender balance among academic staff. Only slightly more than one in four professors in Flanders is female - while there is no shortage of highly educated women.

Talibés are students in Senegal who are sent by their parents to specialized Koranic schools. There, however, they are often beaten by rogue Koran teachers. For their documentary, Arne Gillis, Wouter Elsen and Eneas Mentzel followed talibés at school and on the street and talked to Koran teachers and street workers.

SYRIA - War is not only waged with weapons but also through conflicting ideologies given to children in wartime education. Journalist Pieter Stockmans went to Syria and Turkey and found a struggle for land and values.