FROUKJE VAN WENGERDEN

Born in 1988 I grew up in Bartlehiem, where I lived on a shipyard with my father, mother and big sister. When I was thirteen my father gave me a small photo camera. I photographed the flat landscapes around us. I loved watching American movies. At the age of 18 I left our small town and moved to Amsterdam, where I studied filmmaking. After ten years I’m back in my hometown, filming those Frisian landscapes and faces where I grew up.

Froukje van Wengerden completed a Bachelor in MEDIA & CULTURE (2009) at the University of Amsterdam and a Master FILM STUDIES & VISUAL CULTURE (2011) at the University of Antwerp. In 2012 she started the Bachelor DIRECTING DOCUMENTARY at the Dutch Film Academy and directed the experimental short film MOVING LANDSCAPES (2015) for Dutch broadcaster NPO Doc. She graduated with her personal road movie BRING ME SOUTH (2016). After graduating, she directed the short documentary I WAS ONLY 14 (2016), which had its International Premiere at the prestigious Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto. She directed the documentary mini series THÛSHAVEN BARTLEHIEM (2017) for Omrop Fryslân and her last feature documentary BARTLEHIEM (2021) was shown during the Noordelijk Film Festival in Leeuwarden.