Raymond Grimbergen

After leaving the Academy of Journalism in 1998, Raymond Grimbergen (1972) began a career as a television director. He directs, films and edits many large, well-known television programs, including - since its first season - the drama series BRUGKLAS, immensely popular with young people, for AVRO-TROS, broadcast on NPO3's youth channel, Zapp. The series, currently in its ninth season, won the 2017 Golden Penny for best youth program at the annual Gouden Televizier Ring Gala. Due to the popularity of the series, a movie couldn't fail to materialize and Raymond, as the series' main director, is asked to direct BRUGKLAS: DE TIJD VAN M’N LEVEN. The film, released in 2019, is a great success: after only three weeks, it reaches Golden Film status and eventually more than 180,000 people will see it in theaters.

“You have to be able to smell the grass. That was the first thing that came to mind when I started working out the idea for LIONESS. An idea I came up with when I noticed  - from the fans of my previous film, BRUGKLAS: THE TIME OF MY LIFE - that so many (young) girls these days are so crazy about soccer. Not illogically: the Orange Lionesses have been doing well for years, the stadiums are full and girls' soccer is the fastest growing sport in the Netherlands. My passion for film and soccer, together in a universal story about insecurity, love, peer pressure and believing in yourself [...] LIONESS's world is realistic, avoids stereotypes and clichés and is the experience of the youth of today. A world in which social media, friends and first love play an important role. In which your parents don't understand you, you can get into an argument with your BFF and you can easily fall for the wrong boy. But also a world where anything is possible, as long as you believe in yourself. Rosi's story should be the story of many more children and young adults: be yourself, make your own choices. But also: persevere and have guts. Then you could go far.”