MONIKONDEE

For centuries, the Maroons in Suriname’s rainforest have kept capitalist society at bay. Descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped Dutch plantations, have thrived by preserving their ancestral traditions. In recent years, however, economic interests have encroached upon their land. Monikondee (Money Land) follows Boogie, a boatman who delivers essential cargo to remote Maroon and Indigenous communities along the border river between Suriname and French Guiana. While the communities continue to grow their own food, they are becoming increasingly dependent on boatmen like Boogie to bring in vital supplies, as floods and droughts destroy their crops and gold mining poisons their water. The film is told through a multi-voiced, participatory approach inspired by the mato, a collective Maroon storytelling practice in which listeners interrupt the narrator to share their own stories and songs.

THE FILMMAKERS

Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan are collaborating artists and filmmakers. Their works explore geopolitical landscapes, such as international borders and sites of global trade, as well as the material impacts of resource extraction on local communities and ecosystems. They have created three feature-length participatory documentaries: Episode of the Sea (2014), Stones Have Laws (2018), and Monikondee (2025), the latter two co-directed with Surinamese theatre maker Tolin Alexander. Their films have screened at film festivals worldwide including IDFA, IFF, CPH:DOX, Mar del Plata, MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight, ICA’s Frames of Representation.

Tolin Alexander is a Surinamese writer, theater maker, and performer specializing in cross-cultural theatre and community projects. His work is influenced by Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. In collaboration with Dutch artist-filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan, he directed the participatory documentaries Stones Have Laws (2018) and Monikondee (2025). His recent plays include Lofzang der Vrijheid (2018), performed on a boat in the harbor of Paramaribo in collaboration with the theatre group Ship of Fools. In 2025, he will curate the exhibition Het Bos van Suriname in the museum and biodiversity research centre Naturalis in Leiden.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Cultural Intangible Heritage Award (Prix du Patrimoine Culturel Immatériel) — Cinéma du Réel Festival, France
DOCMA Feature Film Prize — L'Alternativa Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Spain
Best Film and Best Scenario Awards — FINIFA (Festival International du Film Indigène et des Minorités), Morocco
Human Rights Award — MOVE IT! Filmfestival für Menschenrechte (Human Rights Film Festival), Germany
Special Mention (Expert Jury and Youth Jury) — Pianeta Mare Film Festival, Italy
Prix Lycéen — FIFAC (Festival International du Film d'Architecture et des Civilisations), French Guiana