Machiel van den Heuvel studied 'Film Directing' at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. At this Academy, he was seen as a filmmaker with authorship and so in essence, he is looking for stories and personalities that somehow reflect his inner life and also have a universal appeal. Machiel is best known for his directorial debut "The Sako Tapes",
a feature documentary which was received very well by the festival circuit. It was, for example, selected by more than 100 film festivals and won a total of 67 awards.
One of the highlights was winning Best Motion Picture, the premier Award at the P.O.P. Academy Awards. Moreover, the film also won awards at highly acclaimed festivals like the European Cinematography Awards, the European Independent Film Award and the International Independent Film Awards.