Vrije Ruimte Festival: Amsterdam Global Village (Johan van der Keuken, 1996) + Talk

Johan van der Keuken | 1996 | NL | 245’ | EN subtitles

For the Vrije Ruimte Festival, Filmhuis Cavia unearths a true masterpiece of Dutch cinema. Arguably Johan van der Keuken’s most important piece of work, the Amsterdam-born director here takes on the near-impossible task of developing a picture of Amsterdam in all of its different communities and identities. What results from it is nothing short of a long love letter to the city in all of its 180 nationalities.

In typical van der Keuken’s style, the film strings together many different stories, from attending a Ghanian funeral to dancing at the Roxy club, and from a traditional fishmonger in the Jordaan to the living room of a Chechen refugee. The tour guide on this journey through the city is Khalid, a courier crossing the city on a moped, carrying film rolls and prints. The film was published in 1996, just a few years before the emergence of an increasingly harsh public debate against migration in the Netherlands, eventually leading to the affirmation of far-right and racist politicians such as Geert Wilders.

To put the film in perspective with the development of Amsterdam since then, the screening will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic of “What is the role of free spaces in creating and/or maintaining a diverse, inspiring and affordable global village?”. Here, we will bring together community organizers, free cultural spaces and scholars to try and understand how we can use our spaces to foster the change we would like to see in our city!

More precise information about the program will follow.