THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN

Although there are many towns and villages in the world that have namesakes, I wanted to choose the two places that seemed to be the most contrasting at first glance. I wanted black versus white, to be able to identify the grey areas in between. Looking for similarities where there only appear to be differences seemed more challenging than finding differences in quasi-copies. After days of Googling, Bakel in Senegal and Bakel in the Netherlands seemed the most suitable arenas.

On a first visit to the Senegalese Bakel, it met many African clichés that prevail in the West. Poverty is explicitly visible in the streets, for example because of the dilapidated houses, the lack of basic services such as water and electricity and the seemingly hopelessness of daily life. Young and old hang out on the streets every day whereby they drink tea in groups and discuss the news of the town. A handful of people has a steady job. These Bakelois seemed to live in a very traditional community, in which religion and interactions with family, friends and neighbours determine the daily rhythm. On the other side, the Dutch version of Bakel also met many clichés that dominate Dutch (or even Western) villages. Aging and loss of religious and cultural values are clearly visible and form much-discussed topics.

But it wasn’t that simple. As time passed, I got more and more glimpses of the Bakels behind the cliché façades. The cracks in these vacuum worlds gradually surfaced. The influences of the big world outside of Bakel started to reveal. Whereas the original (and mostly old) inhabitants of Bakel try to hold on to the nostalgic ideas of what their village once was, it’s the young people and the newcomers (the so-called 'strangers’) whom are seen as threats. Everyone has their own idea of ​​what Bakel was, is and should be. The relationship with the outside world is complex and often paradoxical. This diversity of perspectives and emotions created an interesting dynamic that I could use as a structure for the film.

Clichés proved to be a very useful tool for researching the themes of my film. The film starts with portraying two contrasting places that fit in the obvious, well-known African and Western clichés: a poor and colourful village where everyone seems to live happily and in harmony versus a rich and pale village where everyone constantly has something to moan about. It confirms what we as an outsider already knew (or thought we’d know) about these places and people. But by constantly weaving the two Bakels together, these places and people gradually take on a different meaning. The Dutch is no longer only Dutch and the Senegalese no longer only Senegalese. The connections and similarities between the two Bakels sometimes break through those clichés. The danger of this is that, as a viewer, you quickly realize that the conclusion of the film is that we all look alike and are the same. But the power of the cliché lies precisely in the fact that there is indeed a core of truth in it. Older people are generally less open to change than young people. Villagers are generally more fearful towards strangers than city dwellers. The Dutch are generally more individualistic than Senegalese. But by constantly refuting this truth and then confirming it again, I tried to play with the elasticity of these clichés in the film, in order to allow the viewer to decide for themselves how much or little we differ from each other. The role of the comparison of both Bakels is that it will ensure that clichés will never be completely clichés.

Making this film has changed my way of observing. Throughout the filmmaking process I have often cursed the restriction that I had imposed on myself of searching for a story and characters in two very demarcated arenas. I first had to go beyond the cliché way of observing both Bakels in order to find a narrative for a cinematographic film. By finally removing both Bakels from their exotic coat, I came closer to the inhabitants. Only then could I see connections and similarities. This was the key to making this film a success. After all, the exotic view lies in the eye of the observer.