These are all the film projects I've been working on so far. It's a varied mixture of feature films, documentaries, shorts, series, music videos and nonprofit film projects. If you want to see even more just have a look on my YouTube channel.
Type: Educational
Country: The Philippines
Sponsor: Cordaid - Vastenaktie
Length: 9 films of about 10 minutes each
Year: 2009 - 2010
This is the annual DVD I produce for Vastenaktie. Last year we filmed in Malawi and this year the campaign is focused on the South East Asian archipelago The Philippines. In December 2009 I went there to shoot material and the DVD has been finished in July 2010. The projects of Vastenaktie take place on the island of Mindoro and focus on sustainabily and reforestation. In February 2011 the DVD will be used by over 1500 primary schools in The Netherlands for their annual Lenten Campaign, focussing on the lives of people across the world. Over 300.000 people will see the films.
Type: Educational
Country: Malawi
Sponsor: Cordaid - Vastenaktie
Length: 9 films of about 10 minutes each
Year: 2008 - 2009
This is a project I did for Vastenaktie, a subdivision of the biggest NGO in The Netherlands named Cordaid. Every year they produce a package of educational material for primary schools in The Netherlands. And every year it's set in one of the countries they are supporting a project. I started working for Cordaid in 2008 and we went to Malawi to shoot material for the DVD which is going to be released during the Lenten campaign in February 2010.
The package contains a DVD and class books where the children can do assignments in. On the DVD there are various short films of about 8 minutes each. The DVD is divided in a section for young children in the age from 4 to 8 years old and a section of older children in the age of 8 to 12. In class the children will first see a film and after they will answer questions about the things they've seen. The films are about the way children in Malawi live and the work Vastenaktie is doing. The film you see here is a promotional film for the package. Every year the package is sold to about 1500 primary schools in The Netherlands and more or less 300.000 people will see the films, mainly children of course.
Type: Educational
Country: The Netherlands
Sponsor: Youngworks
Length: 1 film of 1.30 minutes and 1 film of 4 minutes
Year: 2010
This is one of the two short videos I made for the Dutch NGO Youngworks. I interviewed people in the agegroup of 15 till 24 about Infobesitas. This is a new term for young people getting addicted to the continous information flow they experience by the new media like Hyves, Twitter, Facebook and mobile phones.
Type: Educational
Country: El Salvador
Sponsor: Cordaid - Buzz The World
Length: 9 films of about 3 minutes each
Year: 2009
In April 2009 I went to El Salvador to shoot a series of films about children in the age of 12 till 16 years old. These video's are used in the educational project Buzz the World, an online platform where Dutch children can learn about other children of their age abroad. Buzz the World is a project set up by Cordaid, a Dutch NGO I did various projects for already. The video here is a short portrait of Stefani, a young girl who lives in the slums of capital city San Salvador.
Type: Documentary
Country: Malawi
Sponsor: Cordaid - Vastenaktie
Length: 20 minutes
Year: 2009
This is a documentary I made for the Dutch NGO Cordaid. With the material I shot in Malawi I was asked to edit a documentary for adults. The DVD is being given to all members of Cordaid and a 1000 copies have so far been printed.
Type: Documentary
Country: Kenya
Sponsor: NCDO, Hivos and Youth Incentives
Length: 26 minutes
Year: 2007
7 years is my biggest filmproject so far. When I was living In Nairobi, Kenya I got in touch with a lesbian girl and her stories triggered the idea to make a film about homosexuality in Kenya. I wrote a filmplan and a scenario and I applied at different funding organizations in The Netherlands. In the end three Dutch NGO's sponsored the project: Youth Incentives, NCDO and Hivos. Through my friend I got to know more and more people in the scene and quite a few wanted to be interviewed with a camera. I was actually surprised by the openness of the gays and lesbians I met in a country where homosexuality is still illegal by law. Apart from homosexuals I interviewed social workers, a hairdresser and even a priest. I edited the film and produced the DVD myself and I found the Dutch broadcasting station MVS willing to show the film on their regional channel. After this and a screening at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam I got a lot of positive response within The Netherlands and I decided to pitch 7 years abroad. So far the film has been screened at over 20 (film)festivals across the world, from Cape Town to Turin and from New York to Bilbao. I visited some of these festivals myself to present the film and answer questions from the audience. In North America (Mexico, USA and Canada) the film is being distributed by Frameline, a distributor of LGBT Media. You can watch the full length film here. More information about the film and a list of festival screenings can be found here.
Type: Documentary
Country: Morocco
Now this is an ongoing project of mine. After finishing 7 years I found out that there's a lot of attention worldwide for films about gay rights in third world countries across the world. When tourleading in Morocco with a group of tourists in 2008 I decided to take my camera with me and stay for a bit longer to see if I could shoot some material for a short documentary film. Before leaving and during my trip I contacted as many people related to the subject as possible but unfortunately I didn't find anyone who wanted to talk in front of the camera. This stimulated me even more to make a full documentary about homosexuality in Morocco but the lack of funds during recession times and me being busy didn't result in a project yet. But it's still my plan to start it up again, just look at the comments on the short video statement next to see how relevant a full film would be...
Type: Film Teaching
Country: The Netherlands
Sponsor: Municipality of Amsterdam
Length: 3 films of about 5 minutes each
Year: 2009
This is a project I did for the Baarsjes Beweegt project sponsored by the municipality of Amsterdam. Together with my girlfriend Kelly Willemse we went to three different playgrounds in Amsterdam. We selected a group of about six children and gave them a brief and basic film class on producing, camera, sound and directing. After that we started shooting and in a period of only two hours we let them make a video about the things they like in their playground. Right now we're busy trying to expand the project to other neighborhoods in Amsterdam.
Type: Documentary
Country: Ghana
Sponsor: Amsterdam Art Foundation
Length: 35 minutes
Year: 2008
With the InsideOut Foundation I coproduced this film about the Africa Cup 2008. It's made by 4 young Dutch guys and from the foundation I gave them some basic film classes, a camera and sounds equipment to film with and advise during the editing. We also applied for funds and got sponsorship from the Amsterdam Art Foundation. The film premiered at the Africa in the Picure Festival 2009, together with my film 7 years. The website can be found here
Type: Festival Report
Country: Zanzibar (Tanzania)
Sponsor: Hivos
Length: 20 minutes
Year: 2007
Every year in July the beautiful island of Zanzibar of the coast of Tanzania is home to the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF). This film I made for one of the main sponsors Hivos, a Dutch NGO which is supporting the festivals since it started 10 years ago.
In this film we interview different filmmakers, viewers, visitors, artists and festival director Martin Mhando about the festival, the atmosphere, the history and why it became such an important place for East African culture during the last 10 years. Also you see Zanzibar's most famous artist, the 90 year old Bi Kidude, who receives her lifetime achievement award.
Type: Series
Country: Various
Sponsor: State Magazine
Length: 16 episodes between 6 and 10 minutes
Year: 2007 - present
Waar Ik Woon (Where I Live) is a series of short films I made with my friend Raymond Verhoef for the Dutch hiphop website State Magazine. We came up with the idea to follow famous and soon-to-be-famous Dutch hiphop artists in the place they live. So far we did episodes with artists like Lange Frans, Opgezwolle, Uniq, The Opposites and Rotjoch. Every now and then we have the chance to make an episode abroad as well, like the film you see next where we follow hiphoplegend T La Rock in New York City. The series is still running and so far we made 16 episodes, all of them can be found here.
Year: 2006 - present
When I'm in The Netherlands and during my stay in East Africa I like to make videos for befriended music artists. Mostly concert registrations, festival coverage and videoclips. This is a video of my friend Goreala performing at Club Bitterzoet in Amsterdam.
Type: Documentary
Country: Kenya & Uganda
Sponsor: Oxfam Novib
Length: 20 minutes
Year: 2006
I shot the documentary New Voices during the time I was living in Nairobi, Kenya. This is the first filmproject I produced and financed by myself. I got sponsorship from the Dutch NGO Oxfam Novib and they helped me promote the film as well. It has been used in a Dutch educational project teaching secondary school children about the lives of their fellow pupils abroad. It's still being shown every now and then at festivals, often together with Zenji Flava.
Type: Documentary
Country: Zanzibar (Tanzania)
Length: 50 minutes
Year: 2006
This is my first documentary, and my first filmproject abroad. Zenji Flava is a lively documentary about the blossoming hiphopscene on the island Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania. Me and a friend were selected for an exchange project between the Zanzibar International Film Festival and the Film by the Sea Festival in The Netherlands. We went to Zanzibar and shot the film in 2 weeks. It premiered at Film by the Sea 2006 and has been shown at various international festivals since.
Type: Documentary
Length: 30 minutes
Year: 2005
This is my first film ever. After 3 years of just reading about film during my study Film & Television Science at the University of Amsterdam I decided it was time to grab a camera and start filming. A friend of mine wrote the script, a story about a young boxer who ends up in trouble all the time. The story is based on the short tale Destiny by Ethan Coen. With a budget of only 300 euro's and a lot of volunteers we shot the film in 3 weeks. It has been shown at various cinema's and filmfestivals in The Netherlands. More information can be found at the Destiny website.