Supported projects

BELGIUM - There is no form of religion that politicians and commentators are as concerned about as Salafism. The young men with their beards full of religion and women dressed in long, wavy robes with black stretch gloves have become the symbol of backwardness, of an Islam that does not belong to the West.

EGYPT - In Belgium lives a small, unknown minority from the Middle East: Coptic Christians from Egypt. For many, migration was a choice for a better life, others point to the penal position of Copts as a minority in Egypt.

You are what you eat, as the saying goes. But you're also what you smear. Through our skin, all kinds of things - creams, shampoos, make-up and other substances - partly penetrate our body. Yet not many people know what's in their daily dose of cosmetics.

BRUSSELS / AMSTERDAM - Ivo Van Hove has conquered the world. As the leader of the largest theater company in the Netherlands, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, he makes theater productions that are enthusiastically welcomed worldwide.

DAMASCUS - The Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Elsobky and the Palestinian television reporter and former UN employee Fady Alghorra spent a year searching, undercover, for online violent jihadist propaganda.

BELGIUM - Fourteen years ago, Karen * gave birth to a daughter. A girl like other girls, but with a Y-chromosome, that's how Karen describes it herself. This Y-chromosome caused her daughter to develop testicles during pregnancy. Her body was insensitive to the testosterone that the testicles produce, so she developed as a girl. Coincidentally, Karen knew that something like that sometimes happens. Shortly before the delivery, she saw a documentary about children born with a variation in sex characteristics. She was already startled by the lack of specific support for parents of these children. After the birth of her own child, she experienced it herself.

BAGHDAD - In recent years, thousands of Iraqis have voluntarily returned from Belgium to Iraq. Whoever returns, often did not really choose that, even if it is called "voluntary". The voluntary returnees from our country have often undergone a failed asylum procedure. Others could not handle the long waiting periods, with a high probability of a negative decision - in the years 2015 and 2016 the Belgian asylum authorities could not cope with the flow - and they missed their family.

SYRIA - Around 2014, several reports were published about the Kurdish women's armies. They were presented as courageous fighters who fought heroically against the ISIS. They stood out as a special appearance in the Middle East where usually men seem to make the decisions. They were feared by the ISIS fighters, because whoever is killed by a woman wouldn't go to heaven. The fact that these warriors generally looked good on camera attracted the attention of Australian and British news channels, such as the BBC.

PALESTINE/COLOMBIA/IRAQ - In the three-part documentary series Amazons, Phara de Aguirre goes in search of women who take up arms. She investigates why the women who made the radical choice, what they hope to achieve and what the consequences are, for themselves and for their environment.

CAPETOWN - South Africa is seen as the most western country in Africa. It is not being investigated by the International Criminal Court, but is however planning to leave it. What is going on?

RABAT - Do we know where the carpet that decorates our living room comes from? In most cases we don't. Let alone that we know what price the carpet weavers are paid for it.

BRUSSELS - Worldwide, more than 65 million people are on the run for war, terror, poverty or climatic changes. A sad record. Although only a small percentage of these refugees go to Europe, the political discourse on migration and refugees is one of an evil that should be prevented by all means.

BRUSSELS - Dog has been man's best friend for ages. While he used to work for his owner in the old days, he is spoiled by the whole family today. The changed status, fashion trends and online sales platforms ensure the demand for cute puppies continues to rise. For example, the European dog trade has grown over the past decade into a lucrative business that is almost as profitable as the trade in arms and drugs.

MYTILINI - In October 2017 cartoonists Judith Vanistendael, Aimée de Jongh and Mei-Li Nieuwland visited the refugee camps of Moria and Kara Tepe on Lesvos.

WINGENE - Pigs have had a close connection to humans since prehistoric times. Over the centuries, stories, rules and legends have given the animal a profound meaning. It is a symbol of uncleanness, for the 'beast' hidden inside of us, a source of food, a bone of contention in discussions. This animal signifies both passion and rejection. And that says a lot about mankind.

MAPUTO - In poverty-stricken Mozambique, young women are obliged to sell their bodies to wealthier or white men. A general wisdom with cliché status. But is such a simple analysis correct? What does international research say and what do the women themselves think about their sexual practices and social status? 

ANTWERP - In a time of growing polarization, geo-political instability and a reduced confidence in institutions, there are people who want real change. Bottom-up seems to be a major shift in the political landscape. Citizens solve problems without waiting for decision-making. This can be the start of a new power structure and will thoroughly change our policy.

MECHELEN - Lon Landau is a promising Jewish set designer, whose life takes a dramatic turn during WWII. He's imprisoned in Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen, but he decides to remain optimistic and to do what he can best: build dream worlds.

MOSCOW - Nostalgia or Revolution? Pieter Stockmans and photographer Mashid Mohadjerin travel through a number of important cities in European Russia to capture the revolutionary forces in 2017, 100 years after the Russian revolution of 1917.

BEIJING - In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping decided it was time to 'go out'. He launched the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project and wants to develop a train connection across the Eurasian continent and a maritime route into Europe.

MADRID - The unknown battle of young women from Belgium and the Netherlands against Franco and Hitler.

BRUSSELS - Flemish women with talent and leadership qualities rarely reach the top. Journalist Tine Maenhout, together with ten inspiring women who hold top positions today, investigates why this is still the case and how things can be improved in the future. 

PORT MORESBY - Jimmy Hendrickx traveled to a remote tribe in Papua in the footsteps of the Belgian missionary Petrus Vertenten. He worked there about a hundred years ago and saved the tribe from extermination, for which he is still honored.

RAMALLAH - The fact that ordinary Palestinians have suffered the effects of the Israeli occupation for over fifty years is something that everyone knows. This is shown by the countless articles and reports that reach the public every day. But how the Palestinian population also suffers from the autocratic leadership of its own politicians and administrators and their crippling internal quarrels is less known.

BRUSSELS - During his training to become a general practitioner, Egmont Ruelens met several bus and tram drivers with stress complaints and physical problems. They flirt with a burn-out. 

GHENT - Research by Apache shows how 'chronic fatigue specialist' Kenny De Meirleir sells his patients, through numerous small companies, often controversially expensive tests and medication that he prescribes himself.

MOLENBEEK - the Distance Between Us’ takes its starting point in some audio cassettes artist and photographer Jan Locus received from a Moroccan family in Molenbeek a few years ago. Probably going back to the early 1980s, the cassettes contain an oral correspondence between families in Brussels and Morocco.

KATHMANDU - Nepal was devastated by deadly floods in August. Entire villages were swept away, and thousands of families are still surviving on aid. Rice, clean water and tents are the main items being distributed to help the families.

KINSHASA - Kabila. Michel. Saxe-Coburg. De Croo. Four names that ring a bell in both Congo and Belgium. Four families that left their mark on both countries and their mutual relationships.