A new wave of filmmakers is embracing genre as a space for experimentation, blending horror, fantasy, science fiction, and everything in between. These stories invite audiences into imaginative worlds, yet behind the scenes they demand inventive solutions, bold choices, and persistence that can be difficult to sustain when you’re just entering the industry.
In this panel, Go Short brings together a range of perspectives to explore how genre storytelling is being reshaped today. The speakers will discuss what draws them to these narrative forms, how they overcome the practical and creative challenges that come with building worlds from scratch, and which industry conditions allow unconventional ideas to take root.
The discussion also looks outward, examining how the Dutch landscape responds to genre filmmaking and where greater support or flexibility is still needed.
Speakers:
Christoffer Ode (Uppsala Short Film Festival)
Xiang Yu Yeung (filmmaker)
Loëlle Monsanto (filmmaker)
Moderator: Luuk Heezen
About the speakers:
Christoffer Ode is program director for Uppsala International Short Film Festival in Sweden since two decades. He graduated from Stockholm University, Department of Film Studies before moving back to his hometown to study Art History and Aesthetics at Uppsala University. Ode is nomination committee member for the Swedish National Film Awards and serves on several grant boards and also freelances as a film critic and curator.
Loëlle Monsanto is a filmmaker from Suriname, based in the Netherlands. Her work often features youth horror, magical realism, and culturally rooted stories. She made her debut with Sranan Folktales, a short horror web series that she produced independently in Suriname between 2016 and 2019, together with a group of self-taught young creatives. For this series, she wrote the scripts and directed all episodes. In 2019, Loelle moved to the Netherlands to pursue further studies at the University of the Arts Utrecht. For her graduation in 2023, she wrote and directed the short youth horror film Asema, the sixth episode of Sranan Folktales. The film won the Wildcard from the
Netherlands Film Fund, which enabled the development of a new youth film. With this support, she made Fort Buku, a film she wrote, co-produced, and directed.
Xiang Yu Yeung is a film director/screenwriter, and tech journalist for AI Report, the Netherlands’ leading newsletter about artificial intelligence. With a background in film and media studies, Xiang began filmmaking as a self-taught creator. Her work primarily explores themes such as the female gaze, simulation theories, and AI. Reclaiming Dragons is her debut film.
Free access with an Industry/Student Accreditation, no prior registration required