Ester Gould (1975, Peterculter) is a Scottish-born documentary filmmaker who lives and works in Amsterdam. She studied Film and Journalism in Amsterdam and New York and began her career as a researcher and scriptwriter for acclaimed director Heddy Honigmann. Since 2005 she has been directing her own documentaries and series.
A Strange Love Affair with Ego (2015) – her second feature-length film released in Dutch cinemas – won the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Documentary and the Dutch film critics’ KNF Prize 2016. Strike a Pose (in co-direction with Reijer Zwaan) won an audience award at the Berlinale 2016, was screened in cinemas in the Netherlands, US and UK and has been shown by film festivals and broadcasters worldwide.
In 2016, Variety named her one of ten European ‘Female Filmmakers to Watch’. Her last project – the six-part doc series Debt Society in co-direction with Sarah Sylbing – was a national TV hit, led to public debate and is nominated for a BANFF Award and an International Emmy. Recently they were announced Dutch ‘Journalists of the Year’.
