Luuk Bouwman
This richly illustrated historical documentary investigates the mechanism of nationalist feelings that radicalise. It shows how fascism was on the rise even a decade before the founding of the NSB, due to a number of anti-democratic initiatives led by a millionaire with a predilection for one-legged women, a market vendor, a cleric, and an artist. Historians, writers and collectors of fascist curios reveal how an initially marginal and fragmented movement grew into a radical populist party.
A town in Aragon commemorates a battle in the Bay of Matanzas. No one wants to play Spanish admiral Benavides, who abandoned his ships and treasures without a fight. An absurd historical choreography of a battle with no casualties, with the eccentric style of the multifaceted Dick el Demasiado.
The League Against Swearing is a Dutch organization that has existed for nearly a hundred years. Its Protestant founders wanted to warn the Dutch people about the dangers of blasphemy.
The career of Eindhoven-based artist and musician Dick Verdult spans decades. He is seen as an outsider, as 'the last Dada-ist'. But what we experience as elusiveness turns out to be quite controlled and firstly funded on very personal experiences from his childhood as a 'Philips child' in Latin America. Rather than experiencing globalism as a problem, Verdult is like a cheerful, transcultural mutant. We see how, at the age of 60, he has become a cult musician in South America, Russia and Japan and is increasingly recognised internationally as a visual artist. This documentary explores Verdult's multidisciplinary, international art practice. We see Verdult at work in his studios in Bergeijk (The Netherlands) and Calanda (Spain) and on tour in Peru, Colombia and Argentina.
