Biography

Documentary filmmaker and photographer Marjolein Busstra won the Best International Feature Documentary award at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in 2026 with her latest film House of Hope, qualifying the film for consideration in the Academy Awards' Best Documentary Feature category. The film previously premiered at IDFA in a sold-out Carré theatre, where it was nominated for the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film.
- IMDb mini biography by: Marjolein Busstra

Documentary filmmaker and photographer Marjolein Busstra won the Best International Feature Documentary award at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in 2026 with her latest film House of Hope, qualifying the film for consideration in the Academy Awards' Best Documentary Feature category. The film previously premiered at IDFA in a sold-out Carré theatre, where it was nominated for the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film. Alongside the film, her photographic series House of Hope was shown at Head On Photo Festival in Sydney in 2025. Busstra's work explores themes of political and cultural exclusion, trauma, and human rights. She has worked on documentary projects for organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International. Her approach is research-driven and immersive, with long-term engagement at the heart of her practice. Her earlier documentary We Don't Talk premiered in 2022 at Movies That Matter, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Documentary Award. In 2022, she presented a solo exhibition at Melkweg Expo in Amsterdam, featuring the photographic series and two video works from the project. The work was later exhibited in New York by Photoville in 2023. Marjolein's work is characterized by a sensitive, attentive gaze and a strong ethical awareness. Through both film and photography, she seeks to translate complex and often painful realities into intimate, urgent visual narratives.
- IMDb mini biography by: Alicia Monsma