Docmakers
Ilja Roomans
Tolhuisweg 2 | 1031 CL Amsterdam
ilja@docmakers.nl | +31 6 48233390
Company website
Docmakers is a collective of documentary filmmakers consisting of Aliona van der Horst (director), Fabie Hulsebos (writer), Suzanne Raes (director), Ilja Roomans (producer), Sanne Rovers (director), and Yan Ting Yuen (director and writer). We love films that need a long run, as well as unexpected special or urgent initiatives that require a flexible approach. In addition to productions by Docmakers directors, we also produce films from external directors and take part in international co-productions. Producer Ilja Roomans has over 20 years of experience producing both Dutch productions and international co-productions, she is an EAVE graduate and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
CURRENT PROJECTS
We Had a Plan
Director: Suzanne Raes. Co-Director: Venice de Castro Atienza. Script: Suzanne Raes. Country: NL & Philippines. Status: In Production. Release: 2026. Sort: feature length documentary. Duration: 98 min. Genre: Social, LHBTQI+, Human. Produced by Docmakers in co-production with Daluyong Studios, Svemirko Film Productions & HUMAN.
After 10 years of working illegally as cleaners in the Netherlands, Paul and Daniel return to the Philippines. Struggling to survive and find their place again, they realize that their future together lies in Amsterdam. Yet achieving that dream will require them to endure an uncertain separation. Will their love be strong enough to overcome the challenges that stand in their way?
How to Catch a Butterfly
Director: Kiriko Mechanicus. Country: NL. Status: Released, 2026. Sort: short documentary. Duration: 26 min. World Premiere SXSW 2026, winner Best Short Documentary IndieLisboa 2026, winner Best Short Documentary Millennium Docs Against Gravity 2026, winner National Competition Leiden Shorts 2026. Genre: Social, Sexual violence, Race. Produced by Docmakers.
In 2021, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long kills 6 Asian women in massage parlors in Atlanta, Georgia as a way to suppress his uncontrollable sexual desire. Dutch-Japanese filmmaker Kiriko Mechanicus writes letters to the young murderer to find out what his killings have to do with her sexual life. What do our racial fetishes tell us about our hidden human desires?
The Propagandist
Director: Luuk Bouwman. Script: Luuk Bouwman & Rik Binnendijk. Country: NL. Status: Released. Winner IDFA Best Dutch Film Award 2024. Sort: feature length documentary. Duration: 108 min. Genre: History, Politics, Art.
Using previously unpublished interviews, family films and propaganda films, ‘The Propagandist’ tells the story of the rise and fall of Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen (1898-1975). As head of the Department of Film of the Dutch Nazi Party and SS, he became the most powerful man in the Dutch film industry during World War II. Teunissen, nicknamed the ‘Film King’ and the ‘Dutch Leni Riefenstahl’ was a well- known filmmaker before the war. What drove him to become part of the Nazi regime? The Propagandist questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda and the role of propagandists - how they spread images, narratives, misinformation and ideology. A documentary about boundless ambition and the manipulative power of film.
World Sales: Film Harbour
Master of Light
Director: Rosa Ruth Boesten. Producers: Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, Ilja Roomans. Country: USA (One Story Up) & NL. Status: completed. Release: World Premiere at SXSW 2022. Duration: 83 min. Genre: Social Issues/Art. Global release HBO Max.
Multiple Award winning film, a.o. SXSW 2022 Best Documentary Feature Award, Cinema Doc Eye Spotlight Award 2023, 3 Emmy nominations (best director, best camera, best editing).
Through art, George Anthony Morton heals the traumas of his childhood. By painting his family members in the style of the old Dutch Masters, he finds a way towards the light for his family and himself.
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