Sam van Zoest is a writer and filmmaker. He works with various mediums ranging from documentaries and prose to installations and interactives. Sam’s work focuses on the human dimension of themes like climate change, healthcare, and the refugee crisis. He studied Film & Television at the University of Edinburgh and Environment and Resource Management at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Sam gives workshops and masterclasses on the use of art and emotions to address social issues.

For Explore the North, he created Undercurrent with sound artist Tristan Visser and writer Amarylis de Gryse. This installation consists of a post-apocalyptic underwater dome as a solution for future housing below sea level.

For the documentary In the Right Place, Sam followed a volunteer in a Greek refugee camp for two years and documented his journey back to mainland Europe. In the Right Place was broadcast on television as part of Makers van Morgen.

In the interactive film Grandfather’s Century, Sam interviews his fictional grandfather one hundred years from now. The viewer controls the course of the story, with various storylines unfolding into different future scenarios. With Grandfather’s Century, Sam won the award for Best Film by a Young Director at BNP Paribas Green Film Festival.

Together with Annick Sickinghe, Sam made LATER, a short documentary inspired by Annick’s experience as a childhood cancer survivor. The film explores the late mental and physical effects of cancer at a young age. LATER was shown at Filmtheater De Uitkijk and is available for rent online.

Sam lives in De Warren, a housing cooperative founded by a group of friends seeking an affordable and socially sustainable solution to the unsustainable housing market. This led to the documentary Living Together: The Story of De Warren. Living Together is screening in cinemas and at international festivals.

In 2024, Sam started writing prose and opinion pieces. He participated in Das Mag Summer Camp and is working on a novel about the sailing trip he embarked on with his parents when he was eight years old.

By: Tomas Zenas