Yim Brakel graduated from the Utrecht School of Arts as a screenwriter and director.
His graduation film Strong won Best Film at the Leiden International Film Festival and Best Director at the Eindhoven Film Festival, after which several shorts followed. Daydreaming is a poetic tryptich about three teenagers reflecting on the illness of their classmate. Othala is a mid-length film about a father and son dynamic within a right-wing extremist group, which premiered at the Dutch Film Festival and was included in the Golden Calf competition.
Where his commercial work invites more variety in mood and tone, more playfulness, his fictional work is characterized by a grounded visual style. Always centered around nuanced performances in which the character's inner lives are magnified. Above all, he's passionate about telling personal stories that resonate in the here and now.