Roy Dames (1953, Heemskerk, The Netherlands) graduated as a tropical agricultural expert. But his heart was in film and photography. From 1986 working as a producer of TV documentaries and from 1993 as producer / director.
He produced and directed many TV documentaries (series) about social and social issues from a human interest approach. For his documentaries he also tries to show what is normally not shown, but in daily reality is the order of the day .
In the series 'GIRLS FROM THE KEILEWEG (‘MEIDEN VAN DE KEILEWEG',1999) on street prostitution, it is a sex scene between client and prostitute . The documentary 'RUUD AND RIA, UNTIL THE END' , 2000) focuses on the love-hate marriage of ex-boxing champion Rudie Lubbers and his wife Ria. Rudie became known for his match against Mohammed Ali, it ended in a victory for Mohammed Ali on points. The film ends in a fight scene between Ruud and Ria. In the series 'ON THE THRESHOLD OF LIFE ' from 2001 (about 'the process of dying'), the death of a mentally handicapped woman was filmed . And then the first documentaire of the sequel ‘BAD FELL0WS’, 1994, 2000, 2010, 2021, an epic over a period of 30 years, focus on 3 criminal friends from Amsterdam. It is an 'inside story' about the Dutch / Amsterdam criminal environment. This film is in the collective memory of most of the Dutch and is teaching material at the Dutch Film Academy. The film was named 'best documentary 2011' by Dutch TV. Dames followed a group of Moroccan youth in their everyday reality. It resulted in the films 'I AM MOHAMMED ' (nominated as best documentary during the Dutch Film Days 2005) and ' MOCROS ' in 2011. ‘LOST DAUGHTERS’, 2016 deals with the relationship between a mother and her addict, by loverboys sexually abused daughter. Her mother has a shelter for victims of sexually abused girls. She tries to help those girls return to society, while she is not able to help her own daughter. Previous series on the same characters are 'LOVERBOYS',2007, NPS) and 'THE LOVERBOYS FILE', 2011, NPS). In 2017 the film ‘THE PROMISE’ was broadcast by BNN/Vara. A film about the Moroccan-Dutch writer Mano Bouzamour of 22 who writes a bestseller about his youth.
Last year the series 'GIRLS FROM THE KEILEWEG, 25 YEARS LATER' was broadcasted by POWNED. It was the most-watched documentary series of 2025 on the streaming service NPO START.
Roy Dames has several films in preparation or production. Like '10 YEARS UKRAIN', the last part of 'BAD FELLOWS' etc.
The films often have years of recording time, and that means there is a relationship of trust between the filmmaker and his characters. Roy Dames collaborates with Dutch producers, broadcasters and streaming services.. He is also a documentary photographer.
