Van Diem (1959) studied Dutch language and literature, but dropped out early on to work as a film critic. In 1987, he enrolled in the Dutch Academy for Film and Television from which he graduated with the short film Alaska (1989), for which he also wrote the screenplay. Afterwards, he worked as a screenwriter for the TV series Flodder (1993) and directed the TV series Pleidooi (1993). His only feature film is Character (Karakter, 1997). It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1998.