"I very much enjoyed doing the Master’s in French Literature and Culture of the Literary Studies degree programme. I chose this master’s because the selection of subjects on offer appealed to me enormously."

Personal

"I took the master’s together with a small group of students, which encouraged me to take an active role in the tutorial discussions. Taking part in the discussions helped to improve my French oral skills, as well as giving me personal contact with the teachers."

A teaching position

"After my master’s I am going to work in Lille for 6 months, where I will be a language assistant in a secondary school, helping French pupils with their Dutch. After those 6 months I plan to do the Educational Master’s in French Literature and Culture, which will afterwards hopefully provide me with a teaching position in a Dutch secondary school, in which I will be able to apply the knowledge I have gained during my French studies. In all, the degree programme at Leiden has given me a superb grounding for a job in education, because studying the many and varied subjects allowed me to acquire interesting and in-depth knowledge."

Lachmansingh’s love for film runs deep. As a student, she wrote all her papers and theses on films – even though her degree was actually in Literary Studies. ‘During my gap year after high school, I went with a friend to a lecture by Frans Willem Korsten. He asked us to write down who we were. Then he said, “You probably wrote down your name, your age and your study programme, but those things aren’t what you are.” I thought that was wonderful, but also crazy. This was Literary Studies, wasn’t it? So why was it about identity? Then I started looking more closely at the curriculum.’

The Literary Studies programme turned out to be broader than she expected. ‘Through books, films and paintings, you have the chance to look at biology, philosophy, economics. I thought it was fantastic to be able to study society in this way and not have to choose just one subject. This was even encouraged.” In Lachmansingh’s case, that meant a thesis on horror films, like Night of the Living Dead, The Fly and Alien Resurrection. ‘It was so much fun!’ 

Alongside her studies, she was also involved in film. She soon started volunteering at what was then called the Leids Filmfestival. ‘It was a kind of exploration of what I was good at and what I enjoyed. It turned out that I really liked production: making sure that everything works out fine.’ 

Lachmansingh was eventually advanced to the position of general director of the Leiden International Film Festival (LIFF). ‘It’s interesting to think more broadly about the festival. Who are we? Where do we want to go? And what do we need to achieve it?’