Jesse Vogelaar

Jesse Vogelaar (b. Aotearoa, 1991) attributes his dry, awkward sense of humour to growing up in a Dutch household, speaking Dutch and eating dinner “too early” compared to his peers. When his father’s palm tree growing obsession was limited by the cooler climate, they migrated to sunny Gold Coast, Australia.

A core tenet of Jesse’s directing approach is atypical casting, working with alt-comedy talent and nurturing comedic performances from people who are often untrained. He has an intuitive eye for surrealism and visual absurdity, finding sensibility in the nonsensical. His work borrows elements from improv and clown, blended with visual grammar from an early foundation in animation.

His films have screened at festivals including Sydney Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest and PÖFF, and have been featured online by NOWNESS and Vimeo Staff Picks, as well as exhibited at GoMA. His work has been acquired by SBS and Canal+, and he has written and directed projects funded by Screen Australia and ABC. He is currently developing direct-to-audience and theatrical projects.

His most recent short was described by FilmInk as, “Step Brothers if it were directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.”