Johan Heldenbergh

Johan Heldenbergh is a Flemish actor, playwright, screenwriter and director who trained at the renowned Studio Herman Teirlinck drama academy. After cutting his teeth on stage, he co‑founded the Ghent‑based troupe Compagnie Cecilia in 2006, where he continues to write, direct and perform original work.

Heldenbergh broke out in Belgian cinema with “Moscow, Belgium” (2008) and “The Misfortunates” (2009), but international audiences discovered him when he adapted his own stage play into the bluegrass‑infused melodrama “The Broken Circle Breakdown” (2012). The film’s raw portrait of love and grief earned the European Film Award for Best Screenplay and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, cementing his reputation as a versatile storyteller.

Since then he has moved fluidly between European art‑house and English‑language productions, playing the compassionate zookeeper Jan Żabiński opposite Jessica Chastain in “The Zookeeper’s Wife” (2017), a high‑frequency‑trading engineer in “The Hummingbird Project” (2018) and Dutch UN commander Thom Karremans in the Oscar‑nominated Bosnian war drama “Quo Vadis, Aida?” (2020). Recent work includes the historical drama “Amal” (2023) and voice‑acting and directing projects for Flemish television.

Away from the camera, Heldenbergh is active in Flemish theatre circles and teaches acting master‑classes; he previously shared a long‑term partnership with actress Joke Devynck, with whom he has three children. His career remains defined by a willingness to blend intimate character study with broader social themes, whether onstage in Ghent or on film sets from Brussels to Hollywood.