Coosje Smid

Jeffrey lives in a small Dutch town with his father and his girlfriend. He is about to become a dad. Working in the local brick factory, he gets to supervise newbee Kevin. When Kevin tries to become intimate with him, Jeffrey knocks him to the ground. Yet he can't seem to get Kevin out of his head and starts to question everything that he was once so sure of.

Joy is an emotionally damaged young woman of eighteen, who was given up at birth, to grow up in homes and with foster families. She lives on the fringes of society, getting by on benefits and earning a little extra by playing the accordion in the subway. In addition, she is a skilled shoplifter and has never been caught.

Dutch children’s friend Saint Nicholas is at his wit's end. The letters from children are stacking up and the list of gifts just keeps getting longer. How is he supposed to deliver all those gifts to all those sweet little children in one night? When Diego proposes to ask good old Santa for help, they travel to the North Pole, together with Clumsy Pete and children Max and Anna. Everything seems to work out fine, until Famke and Yvette, two escaped convicts, mess things up. Will Saint Nicolas and his Petes be able to save the feast of St. Nicholas?

Isabel, a teenage girl, is being admitted in a closed institution for juveniles. After an incident where she ends up in solitary confinement, she promises to change herself. But before she can handle the future, she has to confront her past.

In Amsterdam Paradise we're witnessing the development of the relationship between Adam and Eva and see how it’s continually influenced and affected by dozens of other stories set in the city. Amsterdam Paradise is a shimmering mosaic narrative of the city, life and love.