Boudewijn Koole

After several years of producing and directing documentaries, Koole expanded his repertoire to include fiction films. In 2012, he made his fiction feature debut with Kauwboy, which was a national and international success, was selected as the Dutch entry for the Academy Awards, and won the Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 2016 he won the Dutch Award for Best Direction for Beyond Sleep (2016), and the following year his film Disappearance (2017) received the Cineuropa Award at the Les Arcs European Film Festival The characters in his fiction films often explore existential and universal themes such as loss, fear, and death. In an interview with CineSud, Koole stated that he is particularly interested in the parent-child relationship and the interplay between what originates from the individual and what is shaped by the environment.

• Born — 1965 • Occupation — Film director

Koole is a co-founder of Witfilm (2006), a production company dedicated to innovative, artistically driven films together with Iris Lammertsma. Witfilm focuses on creative, social, and youth documentaries, as well as arthouse films. Under Koole’s leadership as creative producer, Witfilm has produced and co-produced films that have been nominated for and won awards, including: - International Emmy Award (Arts Programming) for Dance or Die (2019) - Best Doc at Prix Europa 2021 for Shadow Game (2021) - Best Dutch Children's Film Award at CineKid for Liefjes (2024) - Best Short Documentary at Dutch Academy awards for Mijn Vader, Nour en ik (2023) - Best Documentary at IDFA for Dood in de Bijlmer (2020) Besides his producing work Koole also coaches’ filmmakers, nationally and internationally, in writing and directing.

• Title — Type — Status — Director — Producer — Link • Tower Stories — Feature Film — Post-production — Peter Greenaway — Facing East Entertainment, Witfilm, Jumpy Cow Pictures, The Family. — https: www.imdb.com/title/tt7675204/ • Meis — Feature Film — Development — Boudewijn Koole — Witfilm, Kärnfilm, Umedia. — https: www.imdb.com/title/tt40642675/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_unrel_cdt_t_1

• Year — Title — Type — Function — Awards/Notes • 2019 — Dance or Die — Documentary — Creative Producer — International Emmy Award (Arts Programming), Nomination Golden Rose Award • 2002 — Delusion — Documentary — Camera & Direction — On the necessity of imagination in schizophrenic patients. • 2001 — There is a Wall in Belfast — Documentary — Camera & Direction — Runner-up Golden Gate Festival San Francisco. • 1996 — Gilliard — Documentary — Direction — Runner up for the International Emmy Award.