Teaser BRAK (2026)

Full video Body’s Blindness (2024)

PROJECTS

  • MOEDERLAND is a hybrid documentary about memory, displacement and the enduring bond between a Syrian musician and his mother. After fleeing Syria for the Netherlands, Sam is forced to rebuild his life while his family remains behind. Together with filmmaker Jikke Lesterhuis, he constructs a growing miniature landscape from fragments of his memories: the swamp, a lifesaving piano, all the way back to his very first memory. Rebuilding these places becomes a reflection of rebuilding a life after displacement, piece by piece, from what remains.

    Combining live action, miniature sets and animation, the film moves between Sam in the present and the worlds that exist inside his memory. As he tells his stories, the set shift with him: rooms change, details disappear and memories return in different forms.

    Music and phone calls with his mother open up new spaces within the landscape. Moving between the visible process of building these sets and moments in which the camera enters them completely, the film blurs the boundary between documentary reality and Sam’s imagination. In this fragile, ever-changing world, Sam creates a place where what has been lost can temporarily be rebuilt and where, despite the distance, mother and son can be together again

  • BRAK is an experimental ceramic tile animation exploring the Afsluitdijk as both a connection and a border. Built to connect Noord-Holland and Friesland, the dike simultaneously became a wall for underwater life, disrupting ancient migration routes between salt and fresh water. The film is made entirely from handmade ceramic tiles. Together, hundreds of tiles create a fluid, morphing story about migration, human control and natural movement. While each image exists on screen for only a fraction of a second, the ceramic tiles may survive for thousands of years. Like archaeological fragments, the tiles become physical carriers of a story one that can be found, rearranged and interpreted again in the future.

    The music was based on field recordings and was created during the residency in Studio1931 in Den Oever.

    Film by: Jikke Lesterhuis (Tussen Wad en Water residency at Studio1931, Den Oever)

    Music by me

  • Logline
    In a world where the feared blue check marks flutter from unanswered messages on phone screens into Ghosttown, a modern fairytale unfolds. Filled with unanswered questions and open endings. Will the birds manage to escape the bleak Ghosttown? A short experimental film about the digital etiquette of our time.

    Synopsis
    In a modern fairytale where the blue check marks on your phone screen come to life, we follow their transformation into birds wandering through the haunting Ghosttown. This deserted city, filled with unanswered messages, doubts, and unfulfilled emotions, symbolizes the mental struggle that follows ghosting: a modern phenomenon where all contact suddenly ceases, without reason or closure. As the flock of birds navigates the crumbling streets of Ghosttown, they are confronted with the struggle of an unanswered message. Ghosttown is a visual and emotional exploration of connection and closure in an age of digital silence.

  • For Buurtzorg’s 2026 congress, centred around the theme of connection, I collaborated with musician Sam Al Ali to compose and perform the music for two short films.

    Click here to watch a recording of one of the films.

  • Credits

    Regie Jikke Lesterhuis

    Producent Richard Valk

    Coproducent Jeroen Zijlstra

    Scenario Jikke Lesterhuis

    Camera Jeroen Zijlstra

    Montage Jeroen Zijlstra

    Sound Design Jeroen Nadorp

    Geluidsnabewerking Jeroen Nadorp

    Componist Anna Lesterhuis, Thomas Muis

    Production Design Jikke Lesterhuis

    Visual Effects Patrick Raats

    Animatie Pim ter Braak

    Productiebedrijf Valk Productions BV

    Coproductiebedrijf 5AM studios

    Postproductiebedrijf 5AM studios

    Filmfestivals

    Annecy Animation Festival 2026, official competition (WTF)

    Ennesimo Film Festival, 26 april - 3 may, Ennesiomo, IT

    Melbourne International Animation Festival, 17-24 may, Melbourne, AUS

    Go Short Nijmegen, 7-12 april, Nijmegen, NL

    Stockholm International Film Festival, 23-29 march, Stockholm, SW

    Kaboom Animation Festival, march 2026, Amsterdam/Utrecht, NL

    ANIMA Brussels, february 2026, Brussels, BXL

    Prefilm Miss Moxy, from january 28th, VUE cinemas, NL

    Dag van de Korte Film, December 21st, NL

    Cinema release from December 4th 2025, prefilm The Last Viking, Dutch film theaters, NL

    Dutch Filmfestival 2025, (premiere)

    Gouden Kalf selection; shorts competition, september, Utrecht, NL

  • For the stop-motion animation Body’s Blindness, I composed the original film score. Directed and animated by Jikke Lesterhuis, the film poetically explores themes of temptation, alienation, and the search for meaning in a changing world. My music supports its atmosphere of longing and decay, bringing the protagonist’s inner journey to life.

    Credits

    • Direction, sets, puppets & animation: Jikke Lesterhuis

    • Music: Anna Lesterhuis

    • Lyrics & vocals: Sam Polman

    • Narration: Paul Ó Colmáin

    • Assistant costume design: Micaela Martinez Saavedra

    • Felt artist: Mariken Koning

    • Choreography: Ruby Josephine Smith

    • Recording & SFX: Maarten de Groot (M-Works Studio)

    • Colour grading: John Thorborg

    Body’s Blindness was created during an artist residency at Working Artist Studios in Ballydehob, Ireland.

    Awards:

    • Best Animation — Athens International Art Film Festival (2024)

    • Winner — K(O)ORTS Weird, Wicked & Wonderful (2024)

    • Winner — Rialto for Short, Season 6 Edition 2 (2024)

    Official selections:

    • First-Time Filmmaker Sessions / Lift-Off Global Network

    • Frome International Climate Film Festival

    • National Lasta Festival Online Short Film Programme

    • NewFilmmakers NY