Biography
Govinda Van Maele, born in Luxembourg in 1983, shot his first short films while still at school. Later, he worked for a number film and TV productions. He was awarded with the François-Ode-Preis at the Internationales Hamburger Kurzfilmfestival 2008 for his short film "Josh" (LU 2007). Also in 2008, Van Maele was a participant in the Berlinale Talents. His first feature-length production was the documentary film "We Might As Well Fail" (LU 2011) about the rock music scene in Luxembourg. In the following years, he shot the award-winning short film "En Dag am Fräien" ("A Day in the Open", LU 2012), two episodes of the TV series "Comeback" (LU 2012) as well as the short film "Gei du scho mol vir" ("You Go Ahead", LU 2013). In addition to directing his own films, he worked as a stills photographer for other filmmakers. From 2011 to 2014, he was programmer for the "Midnight Movie" series at the Cinémathèque Luxembourg.
At the Toronto IFF 2017, Van Maele presented his first fiction feature film, the neo noir thriller "Gutland" with Frederick Lau und Vicky Krieps in the lead roles. After a series of screenings at other festivals, among them Tokyo, Santa Barbara and Rotterdam, "Gutland" was released in German theaters in May 2018.