Camrock

BIOGRAPHY

Hester Jonkhout is an experienced cinematographer and filmmaker who grew up in Curaçao and the Netherlands. A graduate of the Netherlands Film and Television Academy (Class of 2000), she has worked on different television reports and documentaries in Suriname, Curaçao and The Netherlands. Her work was featured on internaIonal televsion broadcasIng staIons such as NPO Start, SBS6, RTL, NatGeo, the American ESPN, and the German ZDF. She focuses on social themes, cultural idenIty, and visual storytelling, blending arIsIc expression with social engagement. Jonkhout's collaborated on awardwinning films such as La Dama Blanca (Best Cinematography, Caribbean Tales Film FesIval) and Julieta and the turtles in the plas4c soup (Cinekid Lion Award). In addiIon to her work as a director and cinematographer, she has also edited impacWul documentaries such as The Shadow of Color and One Day at the Time. In 2024 she succesfully released her documentary Felix de Rooy: Nomad in No Man’s Land about visionary Curaçaoan arIst Felix de Rooy. 

???? Director

• Uit de Knipscheer -Ayó uit Curaçao (Under a Tree 2026, 30 min)

• Felix de Rooy: Nomad in No Man’s Land (Omroep Zwart 2024, 58 min)

• From Dirt (Camrock 2015, 12 min)

???? Cinematographer

• De Natuur op de eilanden (BNNVARA, 2026, reality unit, 3 Ep.)

• Everyday Dignity – Philomena Essed (Ida Does 2023, 60 min)

• La Dama Blanca (Pegasaya 2021, 32 min)

• Julieta en de Schildpadden in de Plas4c Soep (EO 2021, 15 min)

• Coastguard Caribbean (NatGeo, Seasons 1 & 2, 2021)

• De Droevige Kampioen (VPRO 2021, 2nd unit, series)

• Rauw Curaçao (2021, BNNVARA, 2nd unit,series)

• Dromen van Curaçao (2019, NTR, 2nd unit, series)

• One Day at the Time (Dansaiza 2016, 27 min)

• A Viking in the Tropics (VPRO 2015, 50 min)

• The Shadow of Color (Warwaru 2012, 72 min)

• Jong! Suriname (VPRO 2010, 58 min) 

✂ Editor

• Margareth - Echoes of a hero (2025)

• Sombra di Koló / The Shadow of Color (2012)

• One Day at the Time (2016)

AWARDS & HONORS

• Best documentary, Felix de Rooy: Noman in No Man’s Land - Caribbean Tales InternaIonal Film FesIval (2025)

• Best Cinematography, Every Day Dignity – Caribbean Tales InternaIonal Film FesIval (2024)

• Best Cinematography, La Dama Blanca – Caribbean Tales InternaIonal Film FesIval (2021)

• Cinekid Lion Award, Julieta en de Schildpadden in de plas4c soep (2021)

• Best Short Documentary, One Day at the Time – Harlem InternaIonal Film FesIval (2016)

• Boeli van Leeuwen Prize, Sombra di Koló (2012)

LANGUAGES

Dutch (naIve), Papiamentu (fluent), English (fluent), Spanish (conversaIonal), Sranantongo (conversational), German (basic), French (basic).