Eline van der Kaa

For my projects, I am always looking for society’s misfits, from hermits to people that do not get included in our current society. An eye for the extraordinary and especially for the everyday life of people who color outside the lines, how do these people give purpose to their lives? What makes the daily life of these people jump out? I look for remote places and subcultures and am very curious towards people that are perceived as different. People who live outside of the bounds of society, for whichever reason there is. One way or the other, I always manage to build a bond of trust with these people quickly. I think this is one of my great strenghts as filmmaker. That is because I am of the opinion that, as a documentary maker, you need this bond to be able tell someone’s ‘real’ stories. I perceive my work as committed through telling stories of people that don’t walk the beaten track but instead live life their own way. A way that falls outside of our ‘standard’. By doing this, I question how we as society absorb or write off people. I provide these ‘misfits’ a voice and try to tear down the prejudice surrounding this group in our society by telling their stories through documentaries. Because especially these people jump out, we are intrigued by their stories about living outside of society. We enjoy observing how other live their lives in a different way but then why do we so often form extreme opinions of this or paint them in a negatief light.