Highlights of the In-Depth Programme

Naeeda Aurangzeb is a Dutch Pakistani journalist, writer and family constellation therapist. For many years she was a radio/TV presenter. She lived and worked for several years in Tel Aviv-Jerusalem and in the USA. She wrote a book about Palestinian refugees and the right of return. Her latest work is on racism and sexism. Currently she is a columnist at Dutch newspaper Trouw. 

Naeeda will be moderating discussions for The Bibi Files and Dialogue Police.

Shermin Chavoushi is a speaker, presenter, chairperson, journalist and editor-in-chief. She currently works as an editor-in-chief for the new Eva Jinek programme. Previously, she worked for De Wereld Draait Door and the talk shows of Humberto and Beau. She has made various programmes in which she each time addressed social issues. Shermin is always curious about the background of the story and asks provocative questions from her journalistic background.

Shermin will be moderating a special Link-Up programme with Devika Partiman (Writing Hawa on the 26th of March) and the Q&A after the Iranian film called The Witness on the 22nd of March.

Marianne Dagevos is the initiator of literary projects such as Podium voor Palestina, Diasporaliteratuur and Verhalenpost, through which Dutch readers can become acquainted with the rich literature and culture of the Middle East and North Africa. She organises workshops and book reviews, makes podcasts and writes articles. Marianne is a literary scholar, an avid reader and has often visited Palestine and surrounding countries.

Marianne will give a short keynote introduction for the film From Ground Zero on 29 March.

Thomas van Gool is project leader Israel-Palestine at peace organization PAX. Previously, he lived and worked in the West Bank for a number of years and studied Middle East politics in London. Thomas combines supporting Israeli and Palestinian peace and human rights activists and organisations as best as possible with the commitment to a better Dutch policy towards Israel-Palestine.

Thomas will be a guest speaker at the Q&A of The Bibi Files (22 March) and the panel discussion at From Ground Zero (23 March).

Erella Grassiani is an Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include militarism, security, politics of trees, and nationalism, fore-mostly in Israel/Palestine. She is also the co-founder of gate48, a platform for critical Israelis in the Netherlands.

Erella Grassiani will be a guest speaker during the Q&A after The Bibi Files (22 March).

Amelia is an award-winning filmmaker, Primetime Emmy-nominated producer, and CEO of Tell2C Productions, a global collective of female filmmakers for change. Previously Executive Director of Development at ABC News Studios/Disney, she has worked with VICE, Discovery, and Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation. A global nomad, she champions marginalised voices. She is a member of the Television Academy, Global Impact Producers Alliance, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, and a proud FilmAid Kenya Board Member.

Amelia will moderate the Q&A after the film Separated.

Marjolein Koster is a freelance journalist with a special focus on the Western Balkans. In the past years she produced stories about human rights, protest movements, politics, migration, environmental issues and much more. After living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, she is now based in the Netherlands again, but still travels to the Balkans every couple of months to report about current affairs in that region.

Marjolein will be participating the Q&A (moderated by Jorie Horsthuis) after the film The Srebrenica Tape (24 March).

Tjeerd Royaards is an award-winning Dutch editorial cartoonist living in Amsterdam. He currently works for Dutch newspaper Trouw and also publishes in international media including Le Monde and (until Jeff Bezos decided to take over the newsroom) the Washington Post. Tjeerd is also editor-in-chief of Cartoon Movement, a global platform for editorial cartoons and comics journalism.

Tjeerd will be present at the Q&A (moderated by Özlem Bulgan) after the film Flavours of Iraq (29 March).

Bahram Sadeghi (1967, Iran) is an Amsterdam based freelance TV director and host. He also writes for various Dutch magazines and organises debates. He has moderated over a 100 Q&A sessions at Movies that Matter.

This year, he will be moderating The Garden of Earthly Delights on the 24 March (Dutch Focus Night) and 29 March, Meneer L. on the 23 March and There is Another Way on the 23 and 24 March.

Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl is Senior Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University. His research agenda, on the conduct of civil wars, includes an empirical focus on the Middle East, but addresses questions about civil wars as a general matter, and draws on comparisons across diverse countries. Schulhofer-Wohl’s core research projects study the interaction between civil war belligerents at three levels of analysis: quagmire as the macro-level result of the interaction between the warring parties; warfighting choices, focusing on alliance behavior and the operational goals of fighting, both meso-level behaviors; and, at the micro-level, the behavioral determinants of individual actions in situations of group conflict.

He will be a guest speaker during the Q&A of There is Another Way (23 and 24 March)

Ida Simonsen is an organic farmer and environmental justice activist. She is primarily active at the intersection of agro-ecology, human rights and food system transformation with a focus on democratisation. Ida holds a Masters degree in human rights and humanitarian action and works on community supported urban agriculture, radical grassroots organising and multilateral negotiations on biodiversity and food governance.

Ida will be moderating discussions for Black Snow (26 March) and The Coriolis Effect (28 March).

Monique Steijns is a lawyer and, as a research associate at the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), is involved in the Artificial Intelligence and Public Values project. In 2021, she published the WRR Working Paper 'AI responded? An exploration of countervailing power from social organisations'. Steijns is a member of the advisory committee Human-oriented AI/ELSA LABS and is also chair of the Netherlands Committee of Jurists for Human Rights.

Monique will attend the in-depth programme as an expert speaker for the film Artificial Justice on 29 March.

In daily life, moderator Kirsten van den Hul is director of DutchCulture, the network and knowledge organisation for international cultural cooperation. Before joining DutchCulture, she worked as an independent consultant through her own company, The Change Agent, working on different transition projects, mainly in the public sector. Previously, she was a member of parliament, where she focused on culture, education, gender equality, foreign trade and development. Prior to that, she was active on the crossroads between culture, human rights and international cooperation, at different organisations including Pakhuis De Zwijger, the European Cultural Foundation and Mama Cash. She lived, studied and worked in Tunisia and has extensive work experience in Eastern Europe and the MENA region. Kirsten was a columnist for different newspapers and magazines, contributed to a number of publications and wrote a book, called (S)hevolution. 

Kirsten will be moderating discussions for Facing War on the 22 March and a premiere screening of Meneer L. on 22 March.