Esmée van Loon

Esmée van Loon (1996, The Netherlands) is a documentary director and researcher from Rotterdam. Looking beyond the surface, observation, involvement and humanity are important parts of her process and makership. She reflects on stories that often revolve around socially relevant themes close to herself. In 2016, she made her first documentary during her Audiovisual Design and Cultural Diversity studies at the Willem de Kooning Academy, with the short film Ma’MaQueen, homonymous to its drag queen protagonist, which won best film at the Rotterdam Open Screen and was broadcast by 2DOC. She graduated from the academy in 2018 with her personal documentary Dubbel Geluk, about growing up with two lesbian mothers, which was broadcast on Dutch television by HUMAN/NPO2. Her documentaries have been screened at several national and international festivals and VOD platforms, including the International Film Festival Rotterdam, ShortCutz, Sheffield DocFest, Canal+ and the Dutch Film Festival.

Filmography

(all short) Ma’MaQueen (2017), Dubbel Geluk (2019), Coming In (2022), MAMA (2022), VPRO Tegenlicht – Sprakkar (2023), Boxing Against the Binary (2024)

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