Hoe Danny Havermelk Ging Verkopen

Maaike Hasselaar received a contribution for the development of her new film. Hoe Danny Havermelk Ging Verkopen is a short film about a seasoned bartender who runs a pub in Amsterdam-Oost. Danny has been standing behind the bar for decades, serving the same regulars he has known for years, day in, day out. Almost only older men sit at his bar, except for Kaat. Kaat is a spontaneous young woman who comes in for a coffee every morning after her running round, dressed in her trendy sportswear. Danny wonders what Kaat is doing in his brown café, but he suspects she is lonely. Her enthusiasm feels insincere. Everything runs its usual course in Danny's bar, until one day Kaat stops showing up. It worries Danny, even though the other regulars tell him he's crazy. As time passes and Kaat is still nowhere to be seen, Danny decides to close the place for the first time in years to go looking for her. And it turns out his concern was justified.

Maaike graduated in 2022 as a screenwriter from the Netherlands Film Academy; since then she has continued to develop herself as a writer, while also diving into directing as an assistant director on short films and feature films. In 2025, the short film Pakka premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, for which Maaike co-wrote the screenplay with director Iniyavan Elumilai and writer Jessie Tiemeijer, and on which she also worked as assistant director. The film won Best Short Dutch Film at the Roze Filmdagen 2026.