Fredrik Andersson

Fredrik Andersson is a Swedish director and screenwriter from Gothenburg, Sweden. He graduated from the screenwriting program at Yrgo in June 2022. Following his education, Fredrik has had a close collaboration with Samir Arabzadeh at Sideways Studios in Gothenburg while also focusing on his short films and starting work on his first feature film. His stories often revolve around mental health and destructive relationships.

Directors Village project | Marstrand

A mother and her two sons meet up to spend a summer day together in Marstrand, but they quickly discover that they have nothing to talk about.

Aisling Byrne

Aisling Byrne is an award-winning theatre and filmmaker from Co. Kildare, Ireland. She is the Artistic Director of Run of the Mill, an inclusive arts organization, and a co-founder of Talking Shop Ensemble, a documentary theatre collective. Her short film script Misread won the 2022 Ardán/RTÉ short film commission and is set to premiere in July 2023, co-directed by Sinead O'Loughlin.

Her debut narrative short film Headspace premiered at Cork International Film Festival, winning the Grand Prix Irish Short Award and qualifying for the European Film Awards 2023. She was selected as one of 12 emerging female filmmakers for the 'Creator' residential talent lab in 2023. She also collaborated on the All Abilities Casting initiative to promote opportunities for learning disabled talent in Ireland. Aisling is a resident filmmaker with Arcade Film in Dublin.

Directors Village project | Turnaround

Following a sudden, tragic bereavement, a West of Ireland cleaner must decide if she will uphold a tightly hidden secret whilst navigating the fast paced pressures of a tourist property turnaround.

Nick Cremers

Nick Cremers is an artist specialized in scripting, directing, editing, and visual effects (VFX). Born in Montfort, the Netherlands, he completed his education at the Film Academy in 2005, focusing on VFX. After relocating from Amsterdam to Hilversum, he started working at various agencies and gradually transitioned into the role of a 3D generalist. As a 3D generalist, Nick is responsible for various tasks, including environment creation, small animations, and commercials.

Currently, he works at studio Mitsi while also undertaking VFX work for commercials and short films. However, his true passion lies in working on personal projects, ranging from short films to small VFX experiments and creating whimsical 3D characters. Nick's work is characterized by its dark themes often intertwined with a sense of nostalgia. Alongside the darker tone, he also incorporates a bold and unfiltered sense of humor into his creations. His inspirations stem from the likes of Stephen King and Anton Pieck.

Directors Village project | The Gift

Young Jeremy is willing to do whatever it takes to keep his sick mother alive, but at what dark cost?

Nazia Mohammad

Nazia Mohammad grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. She studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh college of art and has a visual art background. In the last few years she has been working as a crew member in various art department roles on professional Film and TV productions. In 2021 she was commissioned by GMAC Little Pictures scheme to write and direct micro-budget short film Return which is her directorial debut. GMAC screened Return in Berlin as part of the Screen Talent Europe showcase this year where it received comments such as ‘poetic’ and ‘beautiful’. Nazia was later selected for the EIFF Script Starter programme in 2022 where she developed the script for short film Shaad. At present she is writing new short film scripts and working towards finding more opportunities to direct in the future.

Directors Village project | Shaad

As a bereft Afshan helps to pack up her father’s corner shop, memories entangle her and she is forced to confront the pain of how their relationship fell apart before she was able to make amends.

Nirmala Lan Hesselhund

The co-writer and director Nirmala Lan is a documentary filmmaker and eco village enthusiast. She has a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Maastricht Institute of Arts, and has since worked in film production companies in Copenhagen and Taipei such as THE WHY. In her work she tends to explore individuals or communities that live in parallel to society as we know it. Previously this has been seen in her exploration of eco-villages and communal living. Driven by questions around what other modes of being exist beyond the confines of the known, she expresses this through film in simplistic and poetic ways. Currently she is working as a director on a short documentary, supported by Film Workshop Copenhagen.

Nirmala will be joining the Directors Village program with her co-writer James O’Connell.

Directors Village project | Maastricht at Night

Two twenty-somethings both struggling with upcoming big decisions meet while walking at night in the quiet, beautiful city of Maastricht. They strike up a platonic connection and provide each other with some hope regardless of the result from their respective decisions.

Shanice Kamminga

Shanice Kamminga is a director and screenwriter and aims to give all her projects a touch of magic. Originally focused on acting, she later switched to screenwriting and then kind of happened upon directing, which turned out to be the love of her life. She was one of the five winners of the Netflix New Voices Script Contest 2021 as well as a semi-finalist in The Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship. She also wrote, produced and directed a short film called Other, starring Anna Drijver and featuring couture by Iris van Herpen. Other was nominated for the Meliès d’Argent at the Imagine Film Festival.

She also does commercials and has directed both national and international campaigns, for clients like Booking.com and Philips, among others. She has a preference for stories that are near-fi, high concept or magical realism. Due to her background in acting I love working with actors, especially kids.

Directors Village project | Vonnis (Verdict)

To battle overpopulation the government has created an AI that drafts people who then have to justify why they deserve to stay alive. When privileged Olivia is drafted she tries to enlist the help of her fellow draftees to discover how the AI makes decisions, which leads to a lot of conflict...

Nano Nguyen

Nano Nguyen is a talented filmmaker based in Hamburg, Germany, with a strong passion for storytelling. She is a Bachelor Political Science student and has gained experience in various roles within the film industry. Nano has worked on diverse projects, including the award-winning indie short film Little Parrot and the captivating digital art exhibition Fursona. With a versatile skill set as a concept creator, director, writer, and editor, Nano continues to create compelling films that showcase her unique perspective and captivate audiences.

Directors Village project | Cuckoo

A surrogate AI-robot finds herself in a state that bans AI. Running out of power, she must take action to ensure the survival of the fetus within her.

Kyrylo Zemlyanyi

Kyrylo Zemlyanyi is a talented director and 1st AD based in Kyiv, Ukraine. With a passion for filmmaking, Kyrylo has an impressive filmography that showcases his creative vision and dedication to the craft. He has worked on a range of projects, including fiction and experimental films. In 2023, Kyrylo's upcoming project Unavailable is set to make waves in the Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema scene. The film has been selected for prestigious industry programs such as Euro Connection at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Co-Production Forum at the Brussels Short Film Festival.

Kyrylo's work extends beyond directing, as he has also contributed as an actor in the critically acclaimed film As it Was, which was an Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. Additionally, his experimental film Re-record garnered attention at the Short Riga Test Screenings and received the Audience Award at the Kyiv International Short Film Festival. With a diverse range of experiences and recognitions, Kyrylo's talent and dedication continue to shine through in the world of filmmaking.

Directors Village project | Unavailable

Sergiy (20 years old) works as a volunteer at a humanitarian depot in Chernivtsi, Western Ukraine. On the eve of evacuating his mother from the occupied city of Tokmak in Southern Ukraine, they lose all communication. The next day, he receives news of the shooting of a humanitarian convoy near Tokmak.

Janneke van Heesch | Director

Janneke van Heesch (Director, the Netherlands) obtained her Master in Film studies at the University of Amsterdam, after which she graduated as a filmdirector at the Netherlands Film Academy. Since then, she went on to direct commercials, short films, television series and feature films. Her track record and versatility ranges from experimental, art house, comedy to children’s movies. Her films were screened at Film Festivals worldwide and broadcasted in several European countries. Next to this, she is working at the Netherlands Film Academy as directing coach. She is specialized in script development and directing actors.

Sofia Norlin | Director

Sofia Norlin (Director, Sweden) has lived in Paris since 1994 and works with film and theatre in both countries. Senior lecturer in film directing at Stockholm University of the Arts (since 2020) and writer/podcaster for the Swedish film review POV (since 2016), she also directs educative-social projects in the Parisian suburbs (since 2002) with teenagers and newcomers from wars. At the theatre she’s been an assistant for Ariane Mnouchkine/Théâtre du Soleil and for Wajdi Mouawad. In 2005 her short Les Courants (The Currents) was awarded the French Authors’ Association’s prize Beaumarchais. In 2014 her feature debut Ömheten (Broken Hill Blues) premiered in Berlin film festival. This film was awarded a 500k grant as a script from the Stockholm Film Festival and the film received the Swedish Film Award for Best Cinematography. Sofia was nominated Best New Director. She now prepares her new feature Riviera - co-written with Jean-Pol Fargeau, co-writer of most Claire Denis films - that will take place through large parts of Europe and will be shot from February 2024.