Marina Meijer / Xenia Films

Marina Meijer (Rotterdam, 1987) studied Political Science and Language & Culture Studies at the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, before graduating as a director from the Netherlands Film Academy. Her documentary films are often set in an intimate, demarcated world: a cargo ship on the North Sea, a small Brazilian mountain village or a Rotterdam transformation centre for young men. Her films have premiered at various renowned film festivals such as IDFA, Hotdocs Toronto and Cinema Du Réel in Centre Pompidou, Paris. In 2017, Marina won the Karen de Bok Talent Award and was named Film Talent of the Year by NRC Handelsblad.
Her film Carrousel (VPRO) won a Golden Calf for Best Documentary in 2020. That same year, Marina won the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Scholarship 'for her talent for making thematically rich films that are characterized by sharp and moving observations and idiosyncratic editing choices, in image and sound.' Her most recent film Sezers Zomer (2022), which she produced, filmed and edited herself, was nominated for the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film.
In addition to her work as a director, Marina also works as a coach and teacher for film students and collaborates on projects by other inspiring makers. She is also a committee member at the NPO fund.
Marina is currently working on a documentary about Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama, who was named in ArtReview's 'Power 100' this year as one of the ten most influential artists in the world. In addition, she is currently doing film and literature research around the Black Sea, the area where her Russian grandmother grew up in the former Soviet Union.