About
Freek de Goeje is an Amsterdam-based filmmaker, writer, researcher and storyteller. He specialises in stories about Indigenous perspectives in the Surinamese rainforest, and is also developing films on entirely different themes.
He graduated in Audiovisual Media from the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2023, specialising in directing, screenwriting, production and editing. During his studies he made the documentary De Toemoek Hoemak Expeditie, following the route of his ancestor Claudius Henricus de Goeje through the Surinamese rainforest. What began as an investigation into a family story developed into a longer collaboration with the Wayana and a critical examination of colonial history, land, culture and responsibility.
Freek has since worked with Indigenous communities on films, books, expeditions and the audiovisual documentation of cultural and historical knowledge. As a board member of Echo Echo Foundation, he helps protect biodiversity and strengthen communities in vulnerable regions, together with Indigenous communities and local partners. His wider practice also addresses reconciliation, inherited histories and the choices people make in polarised societies.
In my own words
My story and perspective as a filmmaker
Since the birth of my son, the way I look at the world has changed. I was 25 when he was born, and becoming a father confronted me with questions about my own identity: Who do I want to be as a father? Who am I now, and who was I before? It made me more aware of the passing of time, of my own mortality, and of what we inherit and pass on to the next generation.
This awareness has found its way into my work as a filmmaker and writer. I am interested not only in capturing the present, but also in understanding how it came into being. I believe that personal experiences cannot be separated from the histories that shaped them. That is why I often begin with an intimate story and connect it to a wider historical or social context.
Across my work, I return to the relationships between generations and to questions of identity, responsibility and inheritance. How do we relate to our past? What do we consider right or wrong, and what lies in between? What did my grandfather pass on to me, and what will I pass on to my son? By placing myself within these stories, I do not pretend to observe them from a distance. My own history, doubts and changing perspective are part of the investigation.
At the heart of my work is a search for connection. In a time of growing polarisation, I am interested in how people can stand for something without losing sight of one another. How do we keep our hearts open, even when histories, convictions or experiences place us on opposing sides? My work does not necessarily seek simple answers. It tries to create space for complexity, dialogue and the possibility of seeing both ourselves and others differently.
Education and development
- 2024IDFA Project Space — documentary development programme
- 2023Bachelor in Audiovisual Media, Utrecht School of the Arts — directing, screenwriting, production and editing
Roles
- 2025–Board member, Echo Echo Foundation
- 2024Process coach, Wayana mapping expeditions with Stichting Mulokot