Industry: ESTAFET – The Hague’s Makers Climate

Movies that Matter proudly opens the ESTAFET series. Four events that contribute to a dynamic and sustainable film and media ecosystem in The Hague.

This first edition spotlights four The Hague–based makers working across sound, photography, installation, film, and beyond. They will share their practices and engage in a moderated conversation on shaping craft, accessing financing – including creative and alternative models – and exploring diverse presentation spaces. Together, they will reflect on available resources, partnership-building, and the ongoing search for meaningful collaboration, offering insight, inspiration, and solidarity to fellow creators. 

Guest Speakers

Ana Zibelnik 
Ana is a visual artist and photographer from Ljubljana, Slovenia and based in The Hague, Netherlands. She holds an MA in Film and Photographic Studies from Leiden University and a BA in Visual Communication Design from the University of Ljubljana. Since 2020, Ana has been part of an artist duo with Jakob Ganslmeier, working on photography and video projects which address topics such as climate anxiety, online trends, and the impact of extreme ideologies on young people. Through sharing their visual work and conducting visual literacy workshops, they aim to amplify the often overlooked voices of young adults and contribute to reducing societal polarization. 
Ana’s work has been exhibited at Foam, Photo Basel and Verzasca Foto Festival among others. 
 
Anna Kkvyl (Ukraine)  
Anna is a Ukrainian sound artist, composer, and researcher. She investigates the interactions between sensation and perception, contemplating how these elements intertwine to provide space for both social bonding and individual self-exploration. Khvyl graduated from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague at the Institute of Sonology with her thesis Composing for Spaces of Remembrance: Sound and Decolonial Resistance in War Commemoration, where she currently continues her work as a research associate. Her work includes releases, sound installations, audio-visual compositions, multichannel live performances, audio walks, and radio shows. 
 
Daniel Donato 
Daniel is a brazilian filmmaker based in the Netherlands. As a director, his last film “Hello my first love, over and out” premiered on the Opening Scenes section of the 39th Visions du Réel (CH). As a cinematographer, his work was screened at important film festivals such as Locarno film festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, DOK Leipzig, Nederlands Film Festival, Helsinki International Film Festival, Uppsala International Short Film Festival. “My work always starts with a fascination for a person, someone that I would like to get to know. I feel the need to get close to my character, to understand who they are. I believe our identities are not defined, they change constantly. They are complex and full of contradictions. I want to be able to portray a real person and bring to the surface the contradictions within him/her/them. Therefore I focus my work on the following question: how can I reveal the contradictions within one person and depict a fluid and fragmented identity in film/audiovisual media?” 
 
Manon Bovenkerk 
Manon is the founder of near/by film. She has a background in the visual arts and worked as a programmer and producer for artist initiatives, festivals, exhibition spaces and arthouse cinemas. As a creative producer she is actively involved with the conceptual and formal developments of the film projects. Her aim is to support filmmakers using forms of cinema that cross genres and formats, with the objective to develop modes of production that nurture the process of artistic filmmaking.  

near/by film produces short, mid-length and feature films als well as installations and exhibitions. The focus is on creative documentary, artists’ films and formally exceptional, author-driven fiction, bringing to light underexposed stories and experiences. 

Moderator

Mariia Ponomarova 
Mariia is a film director, creative producer and film industry professional. Mariia studied at Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema & Television in Kyiv and the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. Mariia’s films were screened at DokLeipzig, IDFA, Sarajevo FF, Sheffield DocFest, Chicago IFF, Krakow FF, HotDocs, Leuven ISFF, Go Short ISFF and more. She is a member of the European Film Academy, a Content Manager of the CineCoPro Conference of Munich IFF and a Senior Consultant at the Documentary Association of Europe.

Programme  
12:30 – 13:30 | Walk in & Coffe buffet
13:45 – 15:45 | Panel & Q&A 
16:00 – 18:00 | Drinks and networking
 
Estafet is organised in collaboration with Filmhuis Den Haag, WYSIWYG and Qissa as commissioned by Gemeente Den Haag.