info

jaar 2013
producent seriousFilm
regie Mirka Duijn en Nina Spiering
scenario Mirka Duijn en Nina Spiering
omroep omroep zeeland

omschrijving

This film tells the story of West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a secluded part of The Netherlands. Over centuries this area has been in constant flux. The geography, the sea, and the constant battle against the seawater have dictated most of these changes. But these days the changes in the region are of a different sort. Just as in many other secluded areas of Europe, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is changing rapidly along with macro-economic changes.

For ages, most of the inhabitants were farmers and fishermen, but the fishing industry barely exists anymore and a lot of farmers are leaving the region because of farm expansion. The government has tried to deal with these problems by focusing on a new industry: tourism. Polders have been dug out to make space for artificial lakes and grand marinas. Enormous tourist parks are being build, parks that have nothing to do with the region itself. The inhabitants of the area are caught in the middle of this change: a lot is already gone, but the new things haven’t started yet. They are stuck in a vacuum between the old and the new, holding their breath while waiting for the tourists to come. They know economic change is needed, but many of the inhabitants are afraid that it comes at the cost of their own singular culture. They’re afraid they will loose their ‘identity’. This film is a poetic collage of portraits of inhabitants of the area.

Among them are skipper Jaap Albregtse (63) – due to rising oil prices he has been forced to give up his work and sell his ship. And 22-year-old Mariëlle Notebaart, who works at the local Texaco gas station on workdays. But during festivities she’s got another job: she is the ‘Shrimp Princess’. Another character is Foort Lokerse (59), the head of the fish auction house. He wants to turn his auction house into a Fish Experience (his own fish theme park) for tourists. He hopes it will preserve the identity of Breskens as a fishing town. The portraits of Jaap, Mariëlle, Foort and many others will form a mosaic of portraits that together form one story, a story about change in West Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.

crew

Alexander Goekjian

editing

Tags

Documentary