Astrid Bussink

After studies at the Academy of Fine arts in Enschede, the Netherlands, Astrid Bussink was caught in the middle of the fireworks explosive disaster which fell upon the city, and had to flee her burning house. This experience, which she closely followed and documented from a personal as well as a creative point of view, is where her fascination for documentaries developed.

After several years of working as a picture editor for the glossy business magazine Quote Astrid decided to dedicate herself fully to filmmaking. She studied at the Open Studio in Amsterdam, to go on to complete a Masters in Film at the Edinburgh College of Art. In the context of her postgraduate studies, Astrid spent four months in Budapest to work with the Budapest Filmschool (ZSFE) to shoot her first documentary The Angelmakers. The film has received international acclaim, winning the First Appearance Award at IDFA, as well as Best young author award, Zagreb; Best short Documentary, European Independent Film Festival Paris.

Since producing The Angelmakers, Astrid Bussink has returned to Amsterdam and made The 9 lives of my car, to premiere at the Oktober Filmfestival 2006, as well as Ruckenlage/ Upside Down, to premiere in August 2006 at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

In her work as an artist and filmmaker, Astrid has explored the theme of escape, as she is intrigued by how sometimes people’s decisions appear incomprehensible when seen outside the contexts in which they were made. Why do people make certain choices and how do they handle limiting and disturbing circumstances? How far will they go to escape them? These are the recurring themes of her work.