(Lima, 1951- Amsterdam 2022) is one of the best known documentary makers of the Netherlands. Her work is screened on many festivals around the world and among others MoMa in New York dedicated a retrospective to her. Honigmann puts outsiders first in her work, but also memory, music and love form constant elements. Her latest film, El Olvido, is about children, who run small businesses or work as waiters trying to survive in Lima. In Emoticons (2007) she focusses on 'wandering souls' roaming the Internet in the nightly hours seeking friendship and love. Forever (2006), a portrait of visitors to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, was awarded a Golden Calf at the Utrecht Film Festival. Previously she made dcumentaries on Cuban exiles in New Jersey (Dame la Mano, 2003) and on the traumatic experiences of UN soldiers (Crazy, 1999). Her power lies in the enormous empathy with which she approaches her subjects. 'I don't do interviews', she says about her style, 'I do conversations.'

(Marken, 1958-2009) was a poet, a writer and a commentator, with a regular column on the Forum page and the book pages of the Volkskrant. Zeeman was the editor of the arts section of the Volkskrant and from 2006-2007 its Rome correspondent. In 2006 he and the writer Abdelkader Benali published an exchange of letters, exchanging ideas on politics, life, love and literature. In 2002 Zeeman received the Gouden Ganzenveer (Golden Goose Quill) for his merits for Dutch literature. Zeeman became well-known in the 1990s as the host of his monthly book programme 'Late at night after a short walk', later to be renamed 'Zeeman with books'. In 1991 he published his first volume of poetry, Beeldenstorm (Iconoclasm), winning him the C. Buddingh Prize. His second volume Verhoudingen (Relationships) appeared in 1995. In the same year he published short stories entitled De Verduistering (The Darkening). He died in 2009.

(1937-2012) is the penname of Hendrik Jan Marsman. Since his debut in 1960 he has published novels, volumes of poetry, novellas and essays on an almost annual basis. In the obituary he recently wrote for In Memoriam for the Flemish House De Buren (The Neighbours) he admits he has a lot of respect for other writers, writing profound, bulky novels. “I myself am a composer of chamber music. Four part pieces is the best I can do", said Bernlef. In his latest novel De een zijn dood (One man's death) he explores a new genre: the thriller. In 2008 he wrote the book week's gift De Pianoman, a story resembling Hersenschimmen, (Out of Mind) his breakthrough of 1984. Both novels were written in a characteristic style: without ‘fuss and bother and hoo-ha’, but in a ‘clear and lucid style’. Out of Mind was adapted for the screen and the stage. In 1984 Bernlef was recipient of the Constantijn Huygens Award for his entrire oeuvre and in 1987 won the AKO Literature Prize for Publiek geheim (Public Secret). As a translator Bernlef introduced numerous American and Swedish poets in the Netherlands, among others the Swedish poet and Nobel Prize winner 2011 Tomas Tranströmer, whose complete works he translated. He died in October 2012.