Theo van Gogh (The Hague, july 23 1957) was a self-taught director. He made his debut in 1981 directing the motion picture Luger. After that came: Een Dagje naar het Strand (1984), Charly (1986), Terug naar Oegstgeest (1987), Loos (1989), Vals Licht (1991), 06 (1994), Blind Date (1996), De Pijnbank (1998), Baby Blue (2001) and Interview (2003). For dutch television Van Gogh (far descendent of the painter) directed single plays as: De Galerij, Eva, In het Belang van de Staat en De Nacht van Aalbers, en series als De Eenzame Oorlog van Koos Tak, Au! en Najib & Julia. Recently he joined controversial dutch female politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali as they together made the political pamphlet ‘Submission’ about the abuse of women in Islamic environments. Besides his filmic work Van Gogh was a well know television personality, presenter and journalist (for amongst others Metro, Nieuwe Revu, HP/De Tijd and Het Parool) He has also written a number of books with eye catching titles as ‘Do I hit my wife hard enough’, and ‘Allah knows better.’ For his work as a director Van Gogh has received several prizes. Both 06 and Blind Date were honored with a ‘Golden Calf’ at the Dutch Film Festival for Best Director. In het belang van de Staat received a Calf for Best TV-drama and so did Najib & Julia .

On November 2nd 2004 –just after finishing the last scenes of May 6th- Theo van Gogh was brutally killed on the streets of Amsterdam, not far from his home. After a massive shooting Amsterdam Police arrested the killer, a muslim extremist who claimed to have killed Van Gogh because of his critical attitude towards Islam. The muder made a major impact in the Dutch society.