Thom Vander Beken is a documentary filmmaker and virtual reality director based between Brussels and Berlin. He holds a master’s degree in Dutch and English Literature from Ghent University (Belgium), where he specialized in postcolonial Afrikaans literature. As part of his studies, he received a scholarship to conduct research at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. He later earned a master’s degree in directing from LUCA School of Arts in Brussels.
His mid-length documentaries have been selected for numerous international film festivals. In 2017, his first feature documentary, I Know You Are There, premiered in the International Competition at Visions du Réel in Nyon, Switzerland. The film went on to screen at festivals worldwide and was later broadcast on Belgian television. The Last Jewish Summer is his second feature documentary.
FILMOGRAPHY
2009 – Lost in Transition
A documentary about a generation of young Serbians who grew up during the civil war of the 1990s. Produced by Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film, with the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), VRT Canvas and the EU MEDIA Programme.
2013 – Martin’s Journey
A documentary following a Belgian Jewish family as they reconstruct their family history across Germany and Poland.
2017 – I Know You Are There
At the Liège hospital of renowned neurologist Steven Laureys, 29-year-old Quentin undergoes a week of examinations after spending ten years in a coma. His family must decide whether to continue treatment—a decision that could either bring them closer together or drive them apart. Produced by Tomas Leyers for Minds Meet, in co-production with Volya Film (NL) and Stempel (BE), with the support of the VAF, the Netherlands Film Fund and the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel (CCA). Premiered in the International Competition of Visions du Réel (Switzerland) and later broadcast on VRT Canvas.
2023 – The Interview (VR)
An immersive VR experience that places participants in the role of an immigration officer interviewing four Afghan asylum seekers. At the end of the experience, they must decide who is granted asylum and who is sent back. Produced by Tomas Leyers for Minds Meet, in co-production with hug films (DE), with the support of the VAF and Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM).
2024 – The Last Jewish Summer
In the summer of 1942, Antwerp’s Jewish population was rounded up and deported. More than eighty years later, students from a super-diverse secondary school meet relatives of both the Jewish families who were deported and the collaborators responsible for the arrests. The film explores Belgium’s long silence about its own role in the Holocaust and asks what this history can teach us today. Produced by Quetzalcoatl, with the support of the VAF, CCA, VRT Canvas, the National Lottery, screen.brussels and the Claims Conference.
2026 – The Life Beneath Our Feet (VR)
An interactive VR journey into the life of a 150-year-old oak. Participants explore how the tree interacts with its environment, above and below ground. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt’s call to immerse ourselves in nature, this poetic, science-based experience reveals how trees, fungi and soil organisms are interconnected in a web of relationships that sustains the forest. Produced by Quetzalcoatl, in co-production with Valck Productions, with the support of the VAF, the Netherlands Film Fund, deAuteurs and Bulskampveld.
Thom Vander Beken 