8 mini documentaries on the Netherlands

First movie airs on September 12 @ 7:00 pm

The Netherlands will be featured as an innovative country in 8 mini documentaries, to be aired in the fall of this year and produced by Daily Planet/Discovery Channel, Canada.

The first documentary is titled ‘Revealing new Van Gogh paintings’, and will be aired on Friday September 12, at 7:00 pm, with a repeat at 11:00 pm. In this mini film a new scientific method will get attention, used to reveal a Van Gogh painting of a woman that lies hidden beneath another completely different painting of Van Gogh’s. Discovery Channel will visit the Kroller-Muller Museum, to see the painting, discuss the technique, see how it was done and what this means for art and science.

Cutting edge Dutch technology and research

All 8 shows will be produced by award winning Daily Planet Producer, Carol McGrath. She traveled with an HD camera person to The Netherlands recently to shoot the stories for Discovery Channel Canada. Each of these stories will be approximately 5 minutes in length and will be told in documentary style fashion. All stories feature cutting edge technology and research that is unique to The Netherlands. Stories that feature local residents of The Netherlands doing ingenious things. Since these stories are not hosted by a reporter the focus will be on The Netherlands and there is plenty of opportunity to showcase the beauty of the country.

Almost 2 hour of Dutch programming

The film crew worked well together with the Netherlands Embassies in Ottawa and in Washington, with the Communication Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hague and with EVD (of Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Netherlands).

All involved are enthousiast of the outcome. The benefit of the investment is the unique opportunity to showcase the scientific advancements of the Netherlands to an audience outside of the Netherlands. At the same time it lends a chance for Canadians to see the beauty and uniqueness of the Netherlands.

Titles of documentaries

Here is the list of titles (prelimenary working titles) of Discovery Channel which will be aired in the fall. Please, revisit this website to find the latest information with regards to the final dates & times of the broadcasts or go to www.discoverychannel.ca.

Revealing new Van Gogh paintings:

Joris Dik from the centre of Art and archological sciences department has found a new scientific method to reveal a Van Gogh painting of a woman that lies hidden beneath another completely different painting of Van Gogh’s. We will visit the museum, to see the painting, discuss the technique, see how it was done and what this means for art and science.

The following mini movies are yet to be produced and finalized. Airing time is not yet planned (TBS).

Bee Art:

With the help of local beekeepers, Artist Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny was able to have bees build a vase of his design. This vase has just been purchased by Moma (Museum of Modern Art in New York).We will look at how this is possible and uncover the unique science behind this artistic experiment.

World’s Best Walking Robot:

Daan has developed a new highly advanced walking robot called Flame. It provides important insight into how people walk. This in turn can help people with walking difficulties through improved diagnoses, training and rehabilitation equipment. We will see the challenges of building this robot, what robots have been build in the past, why they didn’t work and why this works so well.

Slippery Shoes:

2 young women have studies what makes shoes slippery and they have some interesting theories. It may seem like fluffy stuff but as many 100 fatalities a year can occur from people slipping. We will follow these women on their crusade to make shoes safer – from testing, to visiting rubber plants.

CFix to the rescue:

A brand new material product development that is stronger than concrete and is now being tested as a possible material to be used in the breakwater blocks that protect The Netherlands. We will see manufacture, testing of material and how it is being tested for the breakwater blocks.

Waste Management:

How a small country (more than 16 milion inhabitants) deals with waste. We show how a Dutch waste management plant works. We will show how to obtain energy from waste (very advanced and cutting edge technology)

Green Trucking:

Gandert van Raemondonck has designed, tested and built sideskirts and tails for mounting on trucks that cut fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 15 percent. We will see how he tested this, built it and how it is working on trucks.

Neanderthal Dwellings: