NI HAO HOLLAND
THE STORY.
Where most Dutch people have never set foot in the Dutch village of Giethoorn, this is different for Chinese tourists. Giethoorn is visited en masse and this place has adapted to tourism to such an extent that the departure times of 'bus line 70' at the bus shelters are also indicated in Chinese.
In Ni Hao Holland, two Chinese friends Cherry and Wenwen dream about going on a trip to the village of Giethoorn. They have heard a lot about it from other travellers and read about it in travel guides. For one week, they finally exchange their metropolis Beijing for this dreamlike village. In the meantime, the Gieterse entrepreneurs are working hard behind the scenes to cater this 'Holland experience' for the ever-growing stream of Chinese tourists. But what is not explained to the visitors is the difference between public and private property. How will this lead to disappointment and friction between both parties? And how is authenticity created by one and experienced by the other? The film lets you experience our own Dutch culture through the eyes of the Chinese.
THE PRODUCTION.
Ni Hao Holland was the second film I ever made, after Framing the Other. This time I was curious about how foreigners view our country. How do we receive other cultures? I challenged myself to find out what drives the Chinese, a group that Westerners at first sight often know little about and understand. I also wanted to break through the fact that we often see the Chinese as a group. I wanted to find a way to break through that façade, that wall between ‘us’ and ‘them’, on a personal level.
We think that tourism brings cultures closer together, but I would actually argue the opposite, namely that it places people more in groups. I think that before you go on holiday you always put on a certain pair of glasses, create a framework for experiences in another country. Once you are there, it is difficult to take off those glasses. That makes the disappointment all the greater. In the film, one of the characters says: ‘I expected to see people in clogs and people with braids in their hair.’ They expected the traditional, typically Dutch version of the Netherlands, because that’s what it says in the travel guides. Because they are not open to a new, modern version of ‘the Dutchman’, the disappointment is all the greater. That increases the distance between the cultures even more.
My role
Director and scenarist
Release
May 2015
Length
25 minutes
Film locations
the Netherlands and China
Year of production
2014 - 2015
Broadcaster
AVROTROS
Production house
Copper Views Film Productions
More info on
copperviews.com
We think that tourism brings cultures closer together, but I would actually argue the opposite, namely that it places people more in groups.
THE STILLS.
