In the #8 edition of eXplore dance festival, Marieke Helmus will be present with a Video Dance Workshop and a Coaching Project in the Meet the Next Generation programme.

For Marieke Helmus (1980, Winschoten), her path to filmmaking was far from the conventional. She studied medical science, while devoting all of her spare time to making short movies. Six years ago she ultimately decided to pursue filming. Her films show extraordinary people. Their inner world is shown through acted-out scenes or interviews, however by adding dance, mime or visual effects to the mix, the audience is given an uncommon outlook.

Marieke Helmus has explored particular forms of expression through movement in (sub-) cultures in various films. In Cape Town Soup she worked with African traditional dancers and encouraged them to experiment with modern dance. In Rotterdamse Tranen (Rotterdam Tears) she examined the relationship young dancers have with comforting and discomforting spots in the Port of Rotterdam. Both films are a fresh combination of documentary portraits and dance/experimental scenes. For the docu-dance performance Sneak Preview she investigated the freedom of movement of veiled Arab women. Her last film Dansen in Stilte (Silent Moves) is about sign language and dance.

Her first short film ‘Weet wat je in huis haalt’ won the first prize of the Fair Food Film price. Short film ‘Als alles bijzonder wordt’ was selected for the Gouden Reiger. Her last film ‘Dansen in Stilte’ was selected for competition at Cinedans 2013. As a filmmaker she has been coached by directors Mijke de Jong en Noud Heerkens.

One day a week she works as an addiction treatment doctor at the Jellinek Clinic Amsterdam.