Lioness

Raymond
Grimbergen

Raymond discovers the magical world of capturing motion pictures by studying television journalism and years of experience in the field after that. ​ He directs, shoots and edits many famous Dutch television shows. ​ In 2016 he finishes his first film, the documentary Closer to Maarten. This story about a young man's search for his missing brother, in the mountains of Northern India, was selected for eleven film festivals worldwide and won a Golden Stone Award at the Scenecs International Film Festival. ​ In 2018 Raymond directed his first fiction film, Brugklas: De tijd van m'n leven. This film is about a group of kids in their first years at high school. It was a big success and it won a Golden Film Award for having more than 180K visitors. ​ Two years later he finished his second documentary, Destination Sobibor, about a young man's road trip to the remote former nazi camp Sobibor, in eastern Poland. On his way to the place where almost his entire family was murdered, this young man is trying to find an answer to all the questions he has about the faith of his lost family members. The film was an official selection for the Miami Jewish Film Festival in 2022. ​ Last year his second fiction film Lioness, a coming-of-age film after his own idea, hit cinemas. This story, about a talented football girl struggling to adapt to her new situation, was released in the Netherlands and Belgium in April 2023. Later that year the film played in Suriname, Curaçao and Aruba. ​ Lioness was selected for film festivals in Italy, Germany, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, India, the United States and Norway and picked up prizes in Italy, Switzerland, Poland and India. Moreover, the film was sold to Germany and will play in German cinemas this September.

Rosi (14) lives for soccer, for her friends, her family, and for everything she holds dear in sun-drenched Suriname. But she loses much of that when she moves to the Netherlands with her parents and brother. Fortunately, she meets the kind-hearted Jitte, who introduces her to the soccer team. As a newcomer, she doesn’t have it easy and has to fight for her spot on the starting lineup. But she has exceptional talent, and some of her teammates aren’t too happy about that.