The Mayor: Halsema & Amsterdam

Leadership means taking action, taking risks, and taking responsibility, as Femke Halsema once put it. In The Mayor, we see what that means in practice for the woman has led the city of Amsterdam since 2018. It is a city that reflects her own stubborn and headstrong nature. “Now I’m the one in the firing line,” she observes matter-of-factly when asked on a podcast about the biggest difference between her time as opposition leader in national politics and her current position in local government. Despite this, she still sees bringing all Amsterdammers together as one of her primary responsibilities.

The film follows Halsema throughout 2025, a year that begins in the aftermath of the riots that erupted following the soccer match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv and ends with the fire at the historic Vondel Church on New Year’s Eve. The camera is there throughout, from crisis meetings to television interviews and from public appearances to closed-door deliberations. In a candid conversation, Halsema also reflects on events, seemingly relaxed at home on her own sofa.