An abandoned village in Wales, a promising new housing development at the deepest point in the Netherlands, a relocation campaign in Twente and a cordial invitation to three million Dutch people to move to Norway. Nicolaas Veul’s climate film, which launches on Friday, is funny and sometimes absurd, but has a serious undertone. What owns it?
The Dutch have been fighting the sea for centuries. But this was against a North Sea rising barely, if at all. This will certainly change. Sea level rise is already underway to accelerate, and millimeters become centimeters and eventually meters. This brings the limits of our polder model intuition. Where is that limit? When will we reach it?
The Netherlands doesn’t have a plan B, but some people do
Documentary maker Nicolaas Veul spoke to several climate scientists, but decided not to focus on the numbers. He looked for the story of the Dutch themselves. How do we deal with this, or not (yet). He takes him from a street party in a new neighborhood near Gouda to the highest and driest sandy soils in the eastern Netherlands.
To adequately tell the story of the sea level of the Netherlands, Veul also decided to cross the border. First in Wales, then in Norway, where he accidentally became a minor celebrity. Along the way, Veul spoke to dozens of people. All this time in search of the Dutch plan B – our national alternative.
You can judge for yourself at NPO Start from Friday if he found it. NU.nl wanted to know what it was doing The climate explorer he did with Veul himself.
Your climate journey started a year ago. How do you feel now, after?
“This changes from day to day,” says Veul. “But now I’m a much more alarmed person. All the instinctive feelings I previously repressed are now on the surface. I’m more realistic, I’m shocked, sometimes angry and hopeless, and happy too.”
Let’s go over those emotions one by one. What do you mean by more realistic?
“I said to myself: it will be fine. We are the best polder people in the world. People say that in the film, but I had it too.”
“But it’s not obvious at all. The doomsday scenario is just on the table and sea level rise is still too fast. This is my new starting point. It’s uncomfortable, you’d rather not have it.”
So what is something that pisses you off?
“I went to a party recently. They ate a lot of meat there. And I thought, guys, we can’t go on like this. We find it so hard to fit in. We’re so used to all the luxury we have. And then you lose heart. Will we ever learn? “
“But I’m careful not to be a moralist. I don’t think we should preach to each other: people should find out for themselves.”
And happy, what do you mean by that?
“Happy is a crazy word. But I’m happy to be able to accept it, to know what we’re dealing with. And to be able to do something with a documentary. It’s about us all.”
“Hopefully my stories provide points of reference. For example, someone who has already moved, or a crazy government campaign where the government demands that we move east. You may find it delayed, or stupid or terrifying. But it also provides a guide for an abstract to make the story concrete ”.
Was there a turning point for you along the way?
“Those were the moments in the film where the future is already manifesting. In Wales, for example. Then I thought: this is what it is like when a village is abandoned. With super clumsy communications from the government and no compensation for the residents. Their house is suddenly worth nothing. We also have those warnings for the polders. “
“And even smaller and more personal things,” continues Veul. “A family that has already moved. Or that I talked about with a scientist who is so worried that he doesn’t know how to talk about it with his children.”
You collected a lot of footage and had to make tough choices. What else would you have liked, but no more suitable?
“For example, we have been doubting house prices for a long time. But it seemed like a breakthrough we shouldn’t make. The subject comes as a thought. But it’s much broader. It’s not about when the point will come that we will flood. ., but much more the question of when we will get to the point where we feel we are becoming vulnerable. “
What is your hope and what is your fear?
“Actually, I am very concerned that the climate issue is politicized and polarized. I recently told you that I am making a film about the climate and then I was asked: do you want to hear both sides?”
“You are on the left, you are right, do you believe it or do you not believe it, I hate you? This is the discussion we are having. But the facts are facts: we are in crisis”.
“I’m afraid this film will only add more fuel to the fire. The climate crisis is causing a lot of stress. Maybe that’s also why many people deny the crisis.”
“I fear that in the Netherlands we will harden even more, instead of thinking: we are putting our backs behind the wheel. But I would like the opposite.”
