A man in a leather jacket walks out of a shop under a red neon sign reading Nachtwacht, at night in Amsterdam.

Nachtwacht

She searches for the truth. He must prove he saw it.

A neo-noir short film · Amsterdam

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The story

One night in Amsterdam, a woman disappears into the canal. Only her bicycle is found.

A secret agent who saw it happen and a news anchor who doesn't trust the official story are drawn into the night, looking for the truth.

A 25-minute Dutch neo-noir thriller, spoken in Dutch and English, with English subtitles.

Close-up of Nathan behind the wheel of a car at night.
Nathan
He knows what he saw.
Close-up of Rachel looking out over the city.
Rachel
She doesn't believe the official story.

The people

Everyone in this city is watching someone.

Nathan, in a leather jacket, smoking outside a neon-lit shop.Cam 01 · Nathan

Nathan Ward

An American expat from New York who works for a Dutch secret service. He lives and works at night. He knows what he saw at the canal, but without a body, nobody believes him.

Rachel, in a blue bomber jacket, on a rooftop above Amsterdam.Cam 02 · Rachel

Rachel van Vliet

News anchor and journalist at the local Amsterdam station 020. By day she reads the news. But this story doesn't add up, and she wants to prove she's more than the face behind the autocue.

A young woman in an orange dress cycles down a dark Amsterdam street.Cam 03 · 03:43

The missing woman

Only her bicycle was found.

A woman with long blonde hair dances behind a red-lit window.Cam 04 · Behind the glass

The dancer

Behind the glass, she sees the street.

The city at night

By day, the city talks about what happened.
By night, it happens.

The Westerkerk tower under a full moon.22:04:10
People wait at a traffic light on an Amsterdam street at dusk.22:31:54
Nathan smoking in a busy street lit in red.23:58:12
A young man in a cap, lit by red neon.00:41:03
Nathan between two women outside a café in the red light district.00:52:40
Friends drinking beer on a cobbled street at night.01:06:22
A man shouts on a crowded bridge at night.01:17:46
Young men talking under a streetlight.01:44:09
Young men on scooters gather by a playground.02:36:20
Two young men running along a canal at night.02:58:31
Two masked men with bags leave a smoking ATM by a canal bridge.03:11:47
A blown-out ATM wall with a police car arriving.03:12:05
Hands loading a pistol in the dark.03:13:30
Nathan driving through the city at night.03:26:18
White flowers splash into a canal under a bridge.03:43:00
Police divers by the canal next to the destroyed ATM at dawn.07:12:44
CCTV footage of a fight on an old monitor.CAM 3
Newspaper headline: Plofkraak!De Grachtenkrant
Rachel at her desk in the newsroom at dusk.Redactie 020
Nathan on a payphone in a bar.23:47:02

The final film: real, helped by AI

70%Real
30%AI

In the final film, real actors will play the roles and real Amsterdam locations will be filmed. Because of the very low budget, about 30% of the finished film will be made with the help of AI: shots we could never afford otherwise.

The short pitch film is a demonstration version: about half real footage, half AI.

Help us make it.

If you like what you see, back NACHTWACHT on Kickstarter.

Support on Kickstarter ▶  Watch the mood film