De Verstekeling

Thomas Stokmans received a grant for the development of a new film. In De Verstekeling, we meet aid workers who deal with the consequences of immigration in their daily work. In this hybrid film, we tell the personal stories of these aid workers in a mosaic narrative during the case of Benedict, the true story of a Kenyan refugee who barely survives a flight from Nairobi to the Netherlands in the wheel well of a cargo plane.

Thomas holds an MA in Contemporary Art from the University of Amsterdam and an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Metropolitan University (in collaboration with the Whitechapel Gallery) in London. After his studies, he opened project spaces and curated exhibitions with emerging artists before turning his focus to film development. The short films he has written and directed are deeply personal, exploring human interaction through non-verbal communication in times of grief and loss, with a nostalgic/poetic sensibility. He primarily works with non-actors and has become increasingly interested in socially critical and politically engaged subjects. In Mr. L. (2024), his feature film debut, and in his new film project De Verstekeling, he continues to build on these themes.