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FILMMAKER

KRISTOF BILSEN
director/producer

kristof bilsen4.jpg

photo: © Alexia Leysen

Kristof received his Masters in Documentary Direction at the National Film and Television School (UK). In 2014 he released Elephant’s Dream, a portrait of three state-owned institutions and their workers in DR Congo, a film he directed/filmed and co-produced.
 

He is an IDFA Academy and EURODOC graduate and is one of the Emerging Producers for Jihlava 2019. He won several awards, such as Grand Prize Nanook-Jean Rouch in Paris, Magic Hour Award at Docs Against Gravity (Warsaw), the TRT 2nd International Documentary Award in Istanbul, Special Mention Bertha Best International Documentary at One World Media Awards (UK), the Buzz Wilson Award at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival, and his work screened at various festivals internationally.
 

He regularly teaches and gives workshops on documentary research, storytelling and production.

FILMS
 

Elephant's Dream, 75' / 2014

The Perfect Belgian, 34' / 2010

Parallel Lives, 34' / 2010

Three Women, 50' / 2005

'The story of motherhood, told through the perspective of Thai carer and single mother Pomm, sparks the imagination.

While Pomm tries to make ends meet while living separately from her 3 children, we are confronted with a taboo of our times, that of dementia and care. On a universal level, the fascinating stories of Pomm, the strangely peaceful constant presence of the patients Elisabeth and Maya, will invite us to meditate on care in this globalised world.  

 

There is also a personal motivation for making this film. My own mother slowly forgot her past. The process of forgetting advanced imperceptibly slow and thus was also an exercise in acceptance for her and us as a family to eventually letting her go.  
 

I invite you to watch this film, immerse yourself in it but most importantly to appreciate the tension and conflict in what motherhood, what caregiving actually means in this day and age.  
 

It's easy to say, "We should all care for our loved ones,” but when push comes to shove it’s really more complex and difficult.  
The world we live in is very demanding.

The film urges us to reflect on what it means to having to be a caregiver for your partner, your children, your parents…and what the possibilities or limitations are in this demanding and complex world we live in.

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