Astrid Bussink (Eibergen, 1975) studied several disciplines at the Academy of fine Arts, AKI in Enschede. She graduated with a project consisting of an art magazine and organisation 'Het Ei'. Besides her studies she was active in several art organisations and the local radio.
After her studies she was involved in the fireworks explosions of Enschede and had to flee her burning house. This experience and the aftermath of the disaster she closely followed and documented, from a personal as well as a creative point of view. This is where her fascination for documentaries developed.She moved to Amsterdam and for several years worked as a picture editor for the glossy business magazine Quote. However, it eventually became clear that her real interest lay in film-making. She studied the technical aspects of filmmaking at  Open Studio in Amsterdam. To deepen her knowledge and ideas she consequently did a Masters in Film at the ECA. During this master she stayed in Budapest for four months to work together with the Budapest Filmschool (ZSFE) to shoot her first documentary 'The Angelmakers' that has now been selected for the IDFA and the competition 'First Appearance'.
In her work as an artist and filmmaker, Astrid is interested in the theme of escape. She is intrigued by how people make certain decisions that appear incomprehensible outside the specific contexts they were taken in, why do people make certain choices, how do they handle limiting and disturbing circumstances and how far will they go to escape, these are reoccurring themes in her work.