AJE: Boycotts at European music festivals

And an other example of a so-called Selfie Report. Made by Step Vaesssen, Denis Slepov and me:

TTAJ: Sabina Tanovic on memorials, genocide, and collective memory

For Al Jazeera English, I produced this episode of Talk To Al Jazeera. The network’s signature interview show that brings candid, long-form conversations with people shaping our world.

AJE: Protests at more than thirty Dutch Stations Gaza Starvation

While the Dutch government has refused to cut short its summer recess to debate the deliberate starvation in Gaza, protesters demonstrated at more than thirty train stations across the Netherlands against starvation and genocide there.

Al Jazeera English 2025

Researching and producing different stories for Al Jazeera English. An international independent news and current affairs channel. Broadcasting in English to over 350 million households around the world. For a full 24 hours a day.

 

Sexotisch/Nominated for the 2025 Dutch Directors Guild Award

Sexotisch was one of three productions nominated for the 2025 Dutch Directors Guild Award in the Best Television Programme category. The DDG Awards are the most prestigious Dutch industry prizes for directors, chosen by their peers.

We didn’t win — director Hassnae Bouazza took home the award for her Brieven uit de kast, a two-part documentary about queer Muslims.

If we had to lose to anyone...

Sexotic is a three-part documentary about sexual racism, made in collaboration with Kelly-Qian and Trudi Janssens. Through expert insights, we trace an unconventional path from colonial history and pseudoscientific biology to modern-day manifestations. Where exactly does fetishization end and racism begin?

This documentary confronts uncomfortable truths while dismantling harmful assumptions.

Why Sexotic has been nominated for the Dutch Directors Guild Award? See for yourself: NPO START.

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Genomineerd voor de Dutch Directors Guild Award 2025

Sexotisch is een van de drie genomineerden voor de Dutch Directors Guild Award 2025 in de categorie Beste Televisieprogramma. De DDG Awards zijn dé vakprijzen voor regisseurs, gekozen door vakgenoten.

We wonnen niet, regisseur Hassnae Bouazza ging naar huis met de award voor haar tweeluik Brieven uit de kast, over queer moslims.

Als we dan toch moesten verliezen...

Sexotisch is een driedelig programma over seksueel racisme, gemaakt samen met Kelly-Qian en Trudi Janssens. Aan de hand van diverse wetenschappers lopen we op onconventionele manier van de (koloniale) geschiedenis, via de (pseudo) biologie naar de doorwerking hiervan in het heden. Want waar stopt een fetish en wanneer begint racisme?

De serie schuurt, stelt vragen, en haalt hardnekkige aannames onderuit. Niet om te choqueren, maar om bloot te leggen wat vaak onbesproken blijft.

Waarom Sexotisch is genomineerd? Hierom: NPO START.

AJE: New format/Elderly and housing/Climate risks

 

Another example of the new Al Jazeera English ‘selfie style’. For this story, produced by me in just one day, we visited five different locations the next day and filmed out of chronological order. Step Vaessen and Denis Slepov edited it the following day.

AJE: New format/Disappeared CCTV footage/Maccabi riots

We were asked by Al Jazeera English to test a new ‘selfie package’ format, so we did.

In this story, we travel with Step Vaessen through parts of Amsterdam as she discusses the controversy surrounding the Maccabi riots in the Netherlands in November 2024. We join her at the locations where it happened: Amsterdam Central Station, the metro station and City Hall. 

After CCTV footage showing violent behavior by Israeli hooligans toward Muslim women was found to have been overwritten, Dutch prosecutors dropped the case in June 2025. The decision raised concerns among people with roots in the MENA region, who say the loss of evidence undermines their trust in Dutch institutions and their sense of safety.