About
I am a documentary filmmaker, story editor and educator based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. I was born and raised in Eibergen.
My first documentary, The Angelmakers, began in Nagyrév, a Hungarian village where women had poisoned their husbands and relatives. Residents’ conflicting memories and everyday conversations became the film.
In My Enschede, I returned to the place where the fireworks disaster had destroyed my home. In Listen, children’s telephone calls are paired with objects, animals and constructed images. The voices carry the film. My films also include Giovanni and the Water Ballet.
Lately I also work with numbers. Under the name The Missing Measure I make projects that measure what usually goes uncounted: who gets to speak in films (Dutch Angle), and what women pay that men don’t (MAN TAX).
I also work with other filmmakers on story consultancy, and teach and advise on documentary projects.
Selected appointments
Netherlands Film Academy
Documentary Directing Tutor · 2020–present
NPO Fund
Adviser · Fiction, Youth and Talent
VPRO Youth
Commissioning Editor · 2017–2020
University of Amsterdam
Guest teaching · Media Studies
Education
Edinburgh College of Art
MA Film
AKI Academy of Art and Design
Fine Art
Short biography for programmes
Astrid Bussink is a documentary filmmaker, story editor and educator based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Her films include The Angelmakers, My Enschede, Giovanni and the Water Ballet, and Listen. Alongside directing, she works with other filmmakers on story development, teaches documentary directing at the Netherlands Film Academy and is an adviser to the NPO Fund. She studied Fine Art at AKI and Film at Edinburgh College of Art.
Contact
Astrid Bussink
Haarlem, the Netherlands
astridbussink@gmail.com
Working in Dutch and English