Marlene Dirven (1992) has a background in music (cello, composition) and writing for film. She started her career in diplomacy and business before being employed as a scriptwriter and assistant director in Brussels for several years. In 2024 she graduated from the Master Film at the Netherlands Film Academy with a focus on music composition.
In her compositions, Dirven has largely explored the concept of womanhood in complex topics such as violence, PTSD, love and autonomy. Her practice challenges patriarchal conventions within the realm of cinema by foregrounding the female experience in her writing and compositions.
Since 2021 she has been assisting filmmaker Rob Rombout in film workshops for the Peloponnese Film Festival and as a founding member of the Flaherty Think Tank on anthropology-based filmmaking. She is currently co-authoring her first essay film on video art (scheduled for 2025) funded by Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds.
In her compositions, Dirven blends the haunting tones of a distorted cello, the isolated chords of a piano and the raw emotion of vocals – then again she weaves melancholic cello legatos and a romantic soprano voice with the rich textures of a string ensemble. Drawing inspiration from the innovative Saariaho, the romantic Grieg, and the avant-garde Shaw, she crafts a unique soundscape that bridges contemporary classical music with narrative melodies, seeking a balance to ‘make love and violence coexist in the same character journey’.