Amsterdam Alternative

Amsterdam Alternative In 2015 we started this trajectory by publishing a joint newspaper and website. Amsterdam Alternative does not rely on one doctrine, slogan or statement.

Originating with the city’s counterculture and free spaces, Amsterdam Alternative stands for collective action and radical political debate for the sake of a desirable future for the many, not the few. Different perspectives, ideas and backgrounds exist side by side, without the need to mold them into one homogeneous party line. We are not looking for a clear cut definition of ‘the alternative,’ b

ut fight for a future urban culture that is in line with the open, emancipative aspects of Amsterdam’s heritage as a free city. We are a platform for political movements and activists looking for effective tools against the city’s perpetual devastation by the rich and powerful. Part of what made Amsterdam a proud, flourishing city throughout the centuries was its openness for subcultures (including etnical and gender subcultures), the prolific squatter scene, alternative lifestyles and the arts. Its open, liberal character is something that the inhabitants are rightly proud of. However, Amsterdam is rapidly changing into a colourless shadow of a city that cares more about business than it does about its residents and their well-being. Amsterdam is becoming an expensive corporate city, exclusively for the rich. The rough edges and alternative places of the city are disappearing, due to exploding rents and property prices, as well as the lack of political will to reverse this development. Instead, a conformist infrastructure is proliferating in which vacuous, commercialised forms of “creativity” serve as cheap excuses for complicity in a brutal system of exploitation. Our response is defiance: there is an alternative, there is even a multitude of alternatives, and AA is a platform committed to make them visible and efficacious. Today, the necessity of a strong and timely alternative scene is greater than ever. Objectives:
• Promoting and representing the interests of Amsterdam’s alternative scene.
• Realizing and maintaining an independent platform for small-scale and non-profit initiatives outside the mainstream; acquisition and management of properties for this purpose, and ensuring that acquired properties do not return to the private market.
​​​​​​​• Publishing articles, background information and programming schedules of participating organizations/projects.
​​​​​​​• Connecting and supporting the participating initiatives by means of sharing information and experience.
​​​​​​​• Organizing events.
​​​​​​​• Organizing and setting up educational programmes.
​​​​​​​• Supporting groups and movements committed to climate justice, equality and anti-racism, as well as promoting a variety of cultures and fighting monoculture.
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The underlying principle is: not for profit.

Sun 21 Dec - Cinema DeriveVentilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)Open: 19:30 - 22:30 hrsTickets: €3 / Also tickets at the...
17/12/2025

Sun 21 Dec - Cinema Derive
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

Open: 19:30 - 22:30 hrs
Tickets: €3 / Also tickets at the door

Medea (1988)
Directed by Lars von Trier
75 minutes
In danish with English subtitles

World of Glory (1991)
(Härlig är jorden)
Directed by Roy Andersson
17 minutes
In Swedish with English subtitles

Fri 19 DecMinnie’s Romance & Danger Cinema - Extra Special EditionVentilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)With: norahjane,...
16/12/2025

Fri 19 Dec
Minnie’s Romance & Danger Cinema - Extra Special Edition
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

With: norahjane, bullet_bra
Open: 18:30-21:30 hrs // Tickets: €5

For the next Extra Special Edition, I’ll be showing you another Dangerously Romantic Film…
Maybe one thing more than the other — you decide.
And to set the mood just right, enjoy a Special Performance by and my band before the screening!

Schedule
18:30: Doors open
19:00: Bullet Bra (live performance)
19:30: Film starts

Today - Sun 14 DecYINTAH - Indigenous Film seriesVentilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)A powerful documentary on Indigen...
14/12/2025

Today - Sun 14 Dec
YINTAH - Indigenous Film series
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)
A powerful documentary on Indigenous sovereignty, resistance, and land defense

Open: 18:30 - 22:00 hrs // Tickets: €7 / €10
Doors: 18:30 // Start Film: 19:00

Join us for an unforgettable evening featuring YINTAH, a groundbreaking documentary that follows the Wet’suwet’en nation’s decade-long struggle to defend their ancestral lands from major fossil fuel companies. This moving, courageous, and deeply human story brings you inside one of the most significant Indigenous land defense movements of our time.

Today - Sat 13 DecCompost for Wild Weeds - Launch of the first Disobedient Art School publicationVentilator Cinema // OT...
13/12/2025

Today - Sat 13 Dec
Compost for Wild Weeds - Launch of the first Disobedient Art School publication
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)
Publication launch & talk
With: Andrea Reyes Elizondo, Debra Solomon, Mirjam van Tilburg, Sruti Bala, Harriët Bergman
Open: 15:00-18:00 hrs // Entrance: Free

The collective Fossil Free Culture NL (FFCNL) invites the public to the launch of Compost for Wild Weeds, the first publication of the Disobedient Art School (.d.a.s.), an ongoing art project that in collaboration with Home of Participation asks: what happens when art and activism learn from each other?
Compost for Wild Weeds marks the beginning of an effort to define what the Disobedient Art School might become. The project has grown out of FFCNL’s artistic work, carrying forward the wish to share the methods and insights of the collective, and to explore what learning can become when art is treated as infrastructure for social change.

Tonight - Fri 12 DecDecolonizing Minds - The first feature film about Frantz Fanon (2024)Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd...
12/12/2025

Tonight - Fri 12 Dec
Decolonizing Minds - The first feature film about Frantz Fanon (2024)
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

Open: 19:00-22:30 hrs // Tickets: € 7,50

Decolonizing Minds is a film screening and discussion series at Ventilator Cinema exploring colonial history, resistance, and identity through Indigenous and diasporic cinema.

This edition presents the Dutch premiere of Decolonizing Minds (2024) — the first feature film about Frantz Fanon, the revolutionary psychiatrist, writer, and anti-colonial thinker whose ideas reshaped our understanding of race, psychology, and liberation.

Fri 12 DecDecolonizing Minds - The first feature film about Frantz Fanon (2024)Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)Ope...
10/12/2025

Fri 12 Dec
Decolonizing Minds - The first feature film about Frantz Fanon (2024)
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

Open: 19:00-22:30 hrs // Tickets: € 7,50

Decolonizing Minds is a film screening and discussion series at Ventilator Cinema exploring colonial history, resistance, and identity through Indigenous and diasporic cinema.

This edition presents the Dutch premiere of Decolonizing Minds (2024) — the first feature film about Frantz Fanon, the revolutionary psychiatrist, writer, and anti-colonial thinker whose ideas reshaped our understanding of race, psychology, and liberation.

Wed 10 DecKIVA – The Call of the Wisdom Keepers - Indigenous Film serieVentilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)With: Marij...
09/12/2025

Wed 10 Dec
KIVA – The Call of the Wisdom Keepers - Indigenous Film serie
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

With: Marijke Kodden, Chautileo Tramanil, Cheryl Angel, Raymundo Tigre Perez, Mniwiconi
Open: 19:30-22:00 hrs // Tickets: €20

With introduction, Q & A!

Today and tomorrow - Sat 06 + Sun 07 DecPREN-Ki TaTa Suriname Short Film Festival | Fiction FilmsVentilator Cinema // OT...
06/12/2025

Today and tomorrow - Sat 06 + Sun 07 Dec
PREN-Ki TaTa Suriname Short Film Festival | Fiction Films
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)

Open: 14:30 - 21:00 hrs // Tickets: €23

The PREN-Ki Suriname Short Film Festival, founded by The Under Foundation in Suriname, is a stage for talent, creativity and passion. Our vision is to grow PREN-Ki into an annual event that inspires more Surinamese filmmakers in Suriname to share their stories with the world. PREN, derived from the Dutch word “prent” or “foto,” emphasizes that a film consists of a series of images that together form a visual work of art. Ki is derived from the Sranan Tongo (Surinamese) word “kino,” which simply means “film.” The name embodies the idea that film is a powerful means of conveying ideas and emotions through moving images.

Sky is a one hour real-time performance created and performed by Katie Duck (Amsterdam) and Sharon Smith (Devon), in col...
03/12/2025

Sky is a one hour real-time performance created and performed by Katie Duck (Amsterdam) and Sharon Smith (Devon), in collaboration with cellist Ben Roberts (Devon). The piece is performed with text, movement, music and a film that fills the room with silent, slow moving images of skies.
Performed on Sunday 30 November, Ventilator cinema.

Photography © Roman Zotter

-tme .zotter

Wed 03 Dec // Fu-rious Warriors – Spin Off!Ventilator cinema - OT301 (2nd floor)Open: 19:30-23:00 hrs // Tickets: €5It’s...
02/12/2025

Wed 03 Dec // Fu-rious Warriors – Spin Off!
Ventilator cinema - OT301 (2nd floor)
Open: 19:30-23:00 hrs // Tickets: €5

It’s been a while since we last showcased some real kung fu on screen, exploring the history of this legendary genre and the culture behind it. After Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, our journey got momentarily interrupted, but worry not! It’s about to continue, with spectacular kicks that will make you wonder how you could have missed such classics, how you never knew the cultural depth behind these iconic films, and how long it’s been since you saw them on the big screen.

Tonight - Sun 30 Nov SkyVentilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)Real-time performanceWith: Katie Duck, Sharon Smith, Ben R...
30/11/2025

Tonight - Sun 30 Nov
Sky
Ventilator Cinema // OT301 (2nd floor)
Real-time performance
With: Katie Duck, Sharon Smith, Ben Roberts
Open: 19:00-20:30 hrs // Tickets: €10 (presale and door)

Sky is a one hour real-time performance created and performed by Katie Duck (Amsterdam) and Sharon Smith (Devon), in collaboration with cellist Ben Roberts (Devon). Katie and Sharon are known for their previous piece “Abandon Human”.
The piece is performed with text, movement, music and a film that fills the room with silent, slow moving images of skies.

The new AA book tip top 5 (Nov-Dect 2025 issue).Tips and links to new releases are always welcome.Please send them to bo...
27/11/2025

The new AA book tip top 5 (Nov-Dect 2025 issue).
Tips and links to new releases are always welcome.
Please send them to books(at)amsterdamalternative.nl

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Jan Hanzenstraat 39
Amsterdam
1053SK

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Amsterdam Alternative

A collective project of: ADM, AstaroTheatro, Badhuistheater, Bajesdorp, Cavia, Cinetol, De Nieuwe Anita, De Ruimte, Fort van Sjakoo, Kaskantine, NieuwLand, OCCII, Oostblok, OT301, Pakhuis Wilhelmina, Plantage Dok, Ruigoord, Teatro Munganga, Volta, Vondelbunker, Workship op de Ceuvel, Zaal100 Vision/mission Amsterdam Alternative is a joint project realised by independent Amsterdam venues, places where music, dance, theatre and art is created, experienced and presented. We are non-profit, experimental, international, social, tolerant and creative. Our free bi-monthly newspaper and accompanying website are designed for everyone interested in the programming of the participating organisations. The newspaper will also provide information on the backgrounds of the artists, musicians, writers and sub-cultures that contribute to their local underground scenes; it will also provide insight on the independent venues in which such people live, work and play. Bilingual The main language of the newspaper is English. However, articles may be written in English or Dutch, depending on the author’s choice. Unfortunately we have yet to realise the budget which will allow us to present each article in both languages; please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this. Contribute? Would you like to contribute to this project? We would love to hear from you! We are a group of volunteers always on the lookout for extra hands and brains to help us with articles, suitable advertising/marketing partners, distribution and other tasks and needs that might arise. Many hands make light work! The more artists, writers, thinkers, musicians who share their ideas with us the better. Amsterdam Alternative www.facebook.com/amsterdamalternative