Raymond Grimbergen
- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Raymond Grimbergen is an award-winning film director based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His latest film Leeuwin ("Lioness") did a huge festival tour around the globe, picking up prizes along the way, including the prestigious award for Best Film at the famous Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
In 2016 he finished his first film, the documentary 'Closer to Maarten'. This story about a young man's search for his missing brother in the mountains of northern India, was selected for eleven film festivals worldwide and won a Golden Stone Award at the Scenecs International FIlm Festival.
In 2018 Raymond directed his first fiction film, 'Brugklas: de tijd van m'n leven'. This film is about a group of kids in their first years at high school. It was a big success and it won a Golden Film Award for having more than 180K visitors.
Two years later he finished his second documentary, 'Destination Sobibor', about a young man's road trip to the remote former nazi camp Sobibor, in eastern Poland. On his way to the place were almost his entire family was murdered, this young man is trying to find an answer to all the questions he has about the faith of his lost family members. The film was an official selection for the Miami Jewish Film Festival in 2021.
In 2023 his second fiction film 'Leeuwin' (international title 'Lioness'), a coming-of-age film after his own idea, hit cinemas. This story, about a talented football girl struggling to adapt to her new situation, was released in the Netherlands and Belgium in April 2023. Later that year, the film played in Suriname, Curacao and Aruba. In 2024 it had a German cinema release.
'Lioness' was selected for film festivals in Italy, Germany, Japan, Poland, Switerland, India, the United States and Norway, winning prizes in Italy, Switzerland, Poland, India and Germany.
At the moment, Raymond is developing new feature films and high-end series, for both young and older audiences, in a range of genres.
In 2016 he finished his first film, the documentary 'Closer to Maarten'. This story about a young man's search for his missing brother in the mountains of northern India, was selected for eleven film festivals worldwide and won a Golden Stone Award at the Scenecs International FIlm Festival.
In 2018 Raymond directed his first fiction film, 'Brugklas: de tijd van m'n leven'. This film is about a group of kids in their first years at high school. It was a big success and it won a Golden Film Award for having more than 180K visitors.
Two years later he finished his second documentary, 'Destination Sobibor', about a young man's road trip to the remote former nazi camp Sobibor, in eastern Poland. On his way to the place were almost his entire family was murdered, this young man is trying to find an answer to all the questions he has about the faith of his lost family members. The film was an official selection for the Miami Jewish Film Festival in 2021.
In 2023 his second fiction film 'Leeuwin' (international title 'Lioness'), a coming-of-age film after his own idea, hit cinemas. This story, about a talented football girl struggling to adapt to her new situation, was released in the Netherlands and Belgium in April 2023. Later that year, the film played in Suriname, Curacao and Aruba. In 2024 it had a German cinema release.
'Lioness' was selected for film festivals in Italy, Germany, Japan, Poland, Switerland, India, the United States and Norway, winning prizes in Italy, Switzerland, Poland, India and Germany.
At the moment, Raymond is developing new feature films and high-end series, for both young and older audiences, in a range of genres.
