Hybrid films open our minds and perceptions for new ways of exploring and immersing in stories heavily anchored in real facts. But how do you keep a grip on the subject and how does your work remain based on reality when dealing with non-fiction storytelling?
In this panel discussion we will have a look at how you can choose different ways to tell a documentary story, using your own visual language. Joining the talk are Douwe Dijkstra, Aimée de Jongh and Kel O’Neill. The talk will be moderated by Filmfonds consultant Absaline Hehakaya.
Douwe Dijkstra is a filmmaker and visual artist from the Netherlands. His work is a mixture of video, animation and VFX, and can be described as both humorous and socially engaged. His projects range from short films and documentaries to video installations and theatre performances. His film Buurman Abdi is included in The Art Department Film Fest, part of the Real Stories section.
Aimée de Jongh is a comic book author, animator and illustrator from the Netherlands. She is known for the award winning graphic novels such as The Return of the Honey Buzzard, Blossoms in Autumn and TAXI!. Through the years, Aimée has worked in the animation industry in many different roles. She directed the short film Aurora, created storyboards for Amazon Prime’s Undone, and animated a series of 12 music videos for De Wereld Draait Door. Her biggest animation project was Behind the Telescopes, a 71-minute long theatrical film, made together with harpist Lavinia Meijer and Arthur Antoine.
Kel O’Neill is an American director and artist, and one half of the creative duo Jongsma + O’Neill alongside Eline Jongsma. Jongsma + O’Neill’s projects include His Name Is My Name (winner, IDFA DocLab Special Jury Award), the immersive series Empire (Emmy nominee, Webby nominee), and the VR documentary The Ark (winner, Tim Hetherington Visionary Award). Their most recent project, Loot – 10 stories, is a mixed reality exhibition that meditates on the future of museums in the wake of restitution efforts. Loot premiered at The Mauritshuis in 2023, and is currently on view at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.
The panel will be moderated by Dutch film programmer and philosopher Absaline Hehakaya. She focuses on stimulating innovation in film across the board and the (further) development of new talent, short films, and projects that explore the boundaries between film and other disciplines. Aside from being a Filmfonds consultant she has been involved, among others, with Filmfonds Shorts, Teledoc Campus, Cypher Cinema, Immerse\Interact, IDFA Doclab Interactive Grant and Ultrakort programs.
