ABOUT

An van. Dienderen is a filmmaker and scholar with a degree in Audiovisual Arts from Sint-Lukas, Brussels, and a PhD in Comparative Cultural Sciences from Ghent University. A former visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, she combines filmmaking, writing, and lecturing to examine how media shape and reflect ideological frameworks, prompting critical reflection on power, representation, and society. Her internationally acclaimed and award-winning work explores how realities marked by violence, displacement, and inequality are mediated and distorted through dominant media. By exposing the ideological biases embedded in these forms, she transforms critique into artistic practice, using her work to unsettle dominant narratives, challenge power, and imagine alternatives. She holds a tenured professorship and senior researcher position at KASK & Conservatorium, School of Arts Ghent (Belgium).

Her films have been presented worldwide, among others at the MoMa NY; the New York film festival; FID Marseille; CPH Dox Copenhagen; Cinéma du Réel Paris; Videonale Bonn; International Filmfestival Rotterdam; British Film Institute festival London; Yerba Buena Center San Fransisco; SCCA Center for Contemporary Art Ljublijana; Margaret Mead Film and Video festival NY; Contemporary Art Biennale Talinn; MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma; Black Star International Film Festival in Accra (Ghana); DMZ Korea International documentary festival; FIDOCS Festival Internacional de Documentales de Santiago; Museum of Contemporary Arts Athens; Bienal de la Imagen en Movimiento Buenos Aires; etc.

Her films are distributed by Women make Movies NY, Icarusfilms NY, AndanaFilms (FR) and Argos Brussels.

Reviews appeared in The New York Times, Indiewire, Awards Watch, Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Women and Hollywood, International Cinephile Society, The Guardian, Rotten Tomatoes, Educational Media Review, Het Parool, DOX, De Morgen, Knack, De Standaard, VRT, Klara,..

Her books and articles were published by Routledge, Berghahn, MER, EPO, Lannoo, among others.

Her research projects at KASK & Conservatorium, School of Arts Ghent are: You Turn Me: Similarities and differences in art and anthropology (2008-2015), China Girls and the Color Genie: a multichronotopic research (2015-2019), White-centricity challenged through co-creation (2019-ongoing). Research topics deal with transdisciplinary subjects such as the racist bias in technology, speculative documentary, collaborative practices, the tension between artistic and ethnographic research, critique of (western) representational regimes of previously colonized communities,.. She also works as a supervisor of PhD candidates, initiated research groups and is a member of advisory research commissions.

An van. Dienderen has an extensive experience in collaboration. Together with theatre maker Thomas Bellinck and photographers Max Pinckers and Michiel Decleene she founded The School of Speculative Documentary (2018-ongoing). Filmmaker Rosine Mbakam and artist Jelena Juresa are members.  She initiated the international art workspace SoundImageCulture  (2006-ongoing) with Laurent Van Lancker, Eric Pauwels, Didier Volckaert, Rudi Maerten and Reinhart Cosaert. Later on Els Opsomer, Mary Jiminez, Patrick Codenys, Susanne Weck, Effi&Amir and many others joined. She initiated the master class & research group Expanded Documentary (2012) with Sarah Vanagt, Jasmina Fekovic, Ben Russell and Laurent Van Lancker. With Sarah Vanagt and Jasmina Fekovic she curated the program DocHouse at Beursschouwburg, Brussels (2008-2010). She started the workshops Visual Anthropology (1996 – 2006) at Ghent University & Luka, School of Arts, Brussels: with Rik Pinxten, Rob Rombout, Didier Volckaert, Eric Pauwels, Reinhart Cosaert, Rudi Maerten en Laurent Van Lancker. Together with Didier Volckaert she started the production company Elektrischer Schnellseher (1999 – ongoing). She curated several art & film programs with Cis Bierinckx.

contact@anvandienderen.net