Photos by Wesley Verhoeve
Hailing from the Netherlands, Steffie van Rhee is a multimedia journalist turned documentary filmmaker and Emmy Award-winning producer. Located in New York, she tries to combine her background in journalism with her love for documentary storytelling, finding the roots for stories in extensive research. She believes that sharing people’s personal stories can catalyze (social) change and create a deeper understanding of different experiences. Dedicated to amplifying female narratives and bringing projects into the world that highlight other underrepresented perspectives, she is often found working on projects focusing on women’s issues, or that are driven by diverse creative teams.
Steffie is a 2023 Film Independent Fast Track participant, a 2021 Film Independent Doc Lab fellow and a 2020-2021 Impact Partners Documentary Producers fellow. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht and a graduate degree in Documentary Media Studies from The New School. There she first took her own seat in the director’s chair and debuted with the short documentary A LIFE BEFORE THIS (2016), about a mother who lost her son to police brutality. It went on to screen at multiple film festivals and was awarded with the Special Jury Mention for Student Documentary at the March on Washington Film Festival.
Her recent credits include co-producer of LOVE MACHINA (Sundance, SXSW 2024) co-producer of Netflix original six-part documentary series RACE: BUBBA WALLACE (2022, NAACP Image Award Nominee + Outstanding Documentary Series - Serialized Sports Emmy winner), about NASCAR’s only Black driver, and producer of AMC+ documentary ALL OF THEM WITCHES (2022), directed by Mona Panchal. Steffie is also the co-producer of BATTLEGROUND (Tribeca 2022), about the fight for the future of abortion in America, by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Cynthia Lowen and the associate producer of Lowen’s previous feature documentary NETIZENS (Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs 2018, HBO Max), about three women fighting back against online harassment.
As freelance researcher and producer she has worked with production companies such as Boardwalk Pictures, XTR, C41 Media, Film45, Bureau NY and Atlantic Pictures. As a director she has contributed to PBS’ American Portrait Project. Additionally, Steffie is an active member of the Documentary Producers Alliance, Brown Girls Doc Mafia and New York Women in Film and Television, and one of the co-founders of girlcrew collective, an internationally based all female artist collective.
*More work samples or complete resume available upon request