Kelly van den Goor

Aliens Who Hurt Themselves

Kelly is a graduate from the Fontys Academy for the Creative Economy. She makes poetic documentaries about human and non-human intimacy. Her work often explores themes such as sexuality and queerness, such as the project she will develop within the framework of DOCvillage.

Annika van den Born

De wereld is niet roazn'd, moar de minse!

Annika holds a master in Visual Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam. She focuses on human and social issues particularly interested in the complexity of social and cultural structure. She has been a Junior assistant producer for Witfilm since 2021.

Matthias Hoekman

Maker in beweging

Matthias Hoekman is a versatile Dutch filmmaker with over a decade of experience in editing, directing, and producing documentaries, TV programs, and short films. He co-founded Hoekman Brothers and has collaborated with Omroep Zeeland and DPG Media. His work includes award-winning films like The Peeker and the acclaimed documentary Eindelienge.

Maria Cristhin Kuiper

All Under One Name

Maria graduated from the University of Maastricht with a bachelor in Media Culture. She went on to continue her studies in Honk Hong where she received a master in Journalism. There she also worked as a reporter for the AFP News Agency for 2 years. With All Under One Name she focuses on family dynamics and short comings of upbringing and asks the question: What is a Mother that hasn't raised you?

Ivo Kraan

Meer ku'j d'r niet van maek'n

Ivo graduted from Hanzehogeschool Groningen. His documentary Ik ben ook iemand (2021) on the Noorderkroon Award for Best Short Documentary. Ivo likes to focus on social themas and stories from his environment, through observation and truly listening. His approach is careful and engaged with an emphasis on mutual trust and doing justice to the story.

Maren Køgel Mandt

My fathers daugther

Maren holds a bachelor degree in TV and Documentary directing from the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.  She worked for many televised projects and notably tv series Logger (2022-2024) Farmen (2023-204). Her current project My Father's Daughter sets focus on an intimate portrayal, including meta-elements as the filmmaking process will be part of the final narrative.

Karen Andersen

Letters from Hell

With a degree in Natural and Cultural Heritage Management, Karen likes to experiment with archives and memories. During DOCvillage she will work on her current project, a film that aim to link hers and her former classmates former selves and their nowadays selves.

Iia Seleznova

Train 104

Iya is documentary director from the Ukrainian Catholic University. She has been active for few years in film, commercial and music video production. She aims to capture meaningful stories that go beyond personal experience, but talk about bigger issues. Her current project looks at the current situation in our home country, between war zones and safe space.

Oleksandra Pleteneska

I Remember

Oleksandra Pletenetska is a Ukrainian director and cinematographer whose award-winning work explores themes of trauma, memory, and the subconscious. A graduate of Kyiv’s Karpenko-Kary University, she has participated in residencies across Europe, including with Béla Tarr. Her films, such as When Will The Warmth Come?, blur the line between reality and perception.

Viktoriia "Nika" Saravas

The Diver

Graduate of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in Business and Economics, Viktoriia “Nika” is a journalist as well as a documentary maker. On top of her researches, investigations and film career, she works for NGO the Federation of Greek Societies of Ukraine. She is also a member of the Youth Council at the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine as the head the cultural heritage department.

Viktoriia Ivanova

When the Silence Grows

Viktoriia is an aspiring animation director and documentary filmmaker based in Kiev. She currently studies art histories at the Kharkiv Karazin University. She likes to work with stop-motion animation, dedicating her films to legends and local narratives of Kharviv with an humorous undertone; their non conformist nature often pushes the audience to unpack and discover the layers of her stories,

Nicole Jachmann

The Forgotten Years

Nicole Jachmann is a Dutch writer and director based in Berlin, known for her poetic and intimate films exploring absence, time, and connection. Her short film Funkele premiered at Berlinale 2022 and won multiple awards, while her debut feature The Part of the Day When You Are Not Here is in development. She studied Journalism and Liberal Arts & Sciences, and her work has received support from the Dutch Film Fund, Limburg Film Fund, and international talent labs.

Martijn Blekendaal

Martijn Blekendaal is a versatile director, programme maker and researcher with a keen eye for touching and relatable stories. In 2018 he released the highly acclaimed youth documentary The man who looked behind the horizon which won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children's Documentary that same year. In 2024 he was back to IDFA once more with his documentary The Invisible Ones which premiered during the festival. He is currently working with Omroep Zwart on the NPO series, Ondergrondse Sporen. 

Martijn often operates as a script and directing coach for documentaries as well as a guest lecturer for the Nederlandse Filmacademie. Since 2010 Martijn has been the director of the visual art gallery Studio BOEF. 

Astrid Bussink

Astrid Bussink studied film at Edinburgh University in Scotland. Her debut The Angelmakers (2005) won the First Appearance Award at IDFA and many other international awards. After this, she continued her filmmaking prowess with Behind the Tower (2013, Golden Calf), Giovanni and the Water Ballet (2014, Generation jury prize at Berlinale) and LISTEN (2017, IDFA Special Jury Award Children's Documentary). Astrid worked as Youth Editor-in-Chief at the VPRO and now works as an advisor on documentaries for the NPO Fund, as dramaturge & coach for several directors and is a documentary directing teacher at the Dutch Film Academy. 

Astrid is currently working on a new documentary series.

John Appel

John Appel studied Classical Literature at the University of Amsterdam and graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 1987. He has since directed more than 40 documentaries, many of which have won (inter)national awards. His film André Hazes - Zij gelooft in mij (1999) was awarded the IDFA Joris Ivens Award while his next project The Last Victory (2003) was nominated Best European Documentary and awarded two Golden Calfs. Among others reward and selection, his documentary The Player (2009) was notably awarded the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Documentary. His latest film Sprekend Nederland (2018) was nominated for the Prize of Film Criticism at the NFF. John often produces in collaboration with filmmaker Heddy Honigmann (VOF Appel&Honigmann).

John mentors at international workshops such as Aristotle Workshop (Romania), Close Up (Middle East), EDN (Portugal), DocLab (the Netherlands) among others and is a regular guest lecturer in documentary at the University of Cluj (Romania). He also served as juror at major festivals such as IDFA, Karlovy Vary, Visions du Reel, Guangzhou.