De Fietsenman

De Fietsenman (The Bike Man) is an insight into the dark side of the cycling culture in the Netherlands. 

It introduces H, a bike dealer, who makes his living by selling stolen bikes in Amsterdam. H has hundreds of contacts reaching out to him every day, offering him money to steal them a bike. 

On the other side is Guus, an ex-cop who has dedicated his life to fighting bike theft, forming the organisation S.A.F.E to tackle this increasingly popular crime. 

H and Guus have more in common than what first meets the eye. They are both getting old, and want to leave their profession. They both believe that they are doing good for the people in their community. They both question their legacy, and what they will leave behind. 

 De Fietsenman shows us that things are always more complicated than they first seem.

I co-directed and co-produced this documentary with my colleague Amy McAuliffe as part of the CampusDoc International documentary filmmaking programme in HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, the Netherlands.

We raised €5000 to make this film through crowdfunding, with donations from individual and organisational donors. View our crowdfunding campaign here.

De Fietsenman won the SvJ Grand Prize for Best Production of 2023 at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht School of Journalism Awards.

It was nominated for the Impact Award at the CampusDoc International Film Festival, 2023.