Susan Koenen

Welcome to the website of documentary film director Susan Koenen.

I was born in 1974 in The Hague, The Netherlands. I am fascinated by non-famous people who can be a role-model to others. My aim is to inspire people and to broaden their view.

If you are trying to reach me, please click on the 'Contact' button, write a message and leave your email address. The message will go straight to my inbox and you'll receive a reply shortly. Thank you!

My latest film is The Children's Mayor. Children’s Mayor Yassine (11) has a Moroccan background and he already knows that he has to work harder for a good job then others, when he grows up. That’s because a lot of people have prejudices against Moroccan people - which isn’t fair. That’s why he became a Children’s Mayor and he will do everything in his power to reduce prejudice.

This film premiered at Cinekid 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. NEWS! The film just won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Palermo Eurovision Filmfestival 2018!

Last year I made a documentary short called Ahmad's Hair. Syrian refugee Ahmad (12) has just arrived in The Netherlands. While he is busy trying to integrate into Dutch society and to make Dutch friends, it turns out he's also on a heart-warming, personal mission. Great news: this film has won two awards. The jury award for Best Documentary Short at the Internation Kids Film Festival India 2018 (IKFF) and the audience award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Filmfestival 2017 in Greece!

There is a festival version of the film (23 minutes) and a shorter version for tv (16 minutes). On Sunday January 22nd, the short version was broadcasted on Dutch television. On October 15 the film premiered at Cinekid (Children's film festival)k and on November 23rd IDFA screened the film at Docs for Sale. The film has been selected at festivals in Greece, Portugal, Russia and South-Korea. Who knows which other countries might follow...

Would you like to watch the film to consider it for your festival, please send me a message by clicking on the 'contact' button. Thank you.

Susan Koenen is a socially engaged documentary filmmaker who likes to inspire the audience by showing people with a stunning amount of personal courage.

Documentary filmmaker Susan Koenen was born in 1974 in The Hague. She is intrigued by people who can be a role model to others, in a social sense. Thus her films present young people who are trying to live their lives in very original ways (Elena in Wonderland), or the remarkably strong girl Laura, who loses her best friend Anne to leukemia (Laura & Anne 4 Ever). And then there is Piet, the protagonist of The Wild West, a man looking after the needs of underprivileged children in a multicultural neighborhood of Amsterdam.