During wars, there’s a small strip of land where fighting soldiers have a gentlemen’s agreement and don’t fight each other; a real ceasefire zone, a piece of ‘No Man’s Land’. It’s where soldiers can take care of each other’s wounds.

During the Covid-19 lockdown Amsterdam was literally a No Man’s Land: it wiped our streets clear. The hamster wheel stopped turning and a ‘monologue intérieur’ begun. In No Man’s Land we enter into this thought process; if our old lives get swept away, what new frameworks emerge? Using the crisis as an empty canvas to draw the first brushstrokes of a new perspective.

its inhabitants

TWAN 
Profound simplicity

HANNA VERBOOM
Togetherness

DIO BRAAF
Reality check

YUKI KEMPEES
Depicting the core

NOA WILDSCHUT
Live in the moment

EDDIE JORDAAN
Making the best of it

MC NEVSDEBOI
Human connection

ROBIN RAMOS
Empathy

OLIVIA LONSDALE
Wake-up call

PAUL TAMES VD BERG
Compelled optimism

HENK SCHIFFMACHER
Forced consciousness

Henk Schiffmacher

FORCED CONSCIOUSNESS

What strikes me about it all: I witnessed the AIDS outbreak in ’82. It was a disease among gays, so nobody gave a fuck about it and nobody spent a penny on it. Now all of a sudden we’re in an awful hurry. Corona has no color, no race, nor judgment. Anyone could die of it. I hope this has all taken long enough to create a turnaround in our mindset. I’m not sure though, however, when I see a full Dam protesting against racism I am proud: because we think with our hearts instead of our heads.

DIO BRAAF

REALITY CHECK

I’ve had corona myself and I laid flat for 2 weeks. Then I woke up in a kind of rouse in which the floor was pulled out from under me because everything was canceled bit by bit. Life has never been an easy ride for me anyway, and I really think that when you firmly wish for and visualize something, you can manifest it with the right energy. And then, all of a sudden, I was bursting with creativity. Sometimes extreme circumstances are needed in order to make progress.

Olivia Lonsdale

WAKE-UP CALL

My grandfather sent me a note: ‘I was born in 1940 and then came 5 years of war. Now I may be living my last 5 years in wartime as well. But this is also the time to make the world a better place. Good luck! Love!’ I believe we lived in an unsatiable and unsustainable world. On all levels: from flying to eating. It was always more, more, more.  And I admit I was part of it myself… At last we’re standing still.

HANNA VERBOOM

TOGETHERNESS

This crisis is a stepping stone to self-reflection. For many of us, it’s the first time we’ve really had to think from an ‘us’ perspective instead of ‘me’. Even with a minimal chance of me dying of corona, I’m staying home for the elderly. This togetherness reminded me of the village in Kenia where I grew up. As an individual, you depend on yoir tribe, on others. There’s a lot of respect for the community. This deep awareness is called ‘Ubuntu’: I am because we are. The bigger picture now concerns us all.

Yuki Kempees

DEPICTING THE CORE

My mother works in special care. She came home with a black eye because she was hit by a resident. For 3 months, day in and day out, she had to tell them they could not go pick up balloons at McDonalds. For a mentally disabled person this is a literal purpose in life. This surpassed everything for me. How can I whine about the fact that I have to take a shopping cart into the supermarket even when I only have to do 1 errand? Every time I think I am having a hard time, I check in with my mom.

TWAN VAN STEENHOVEN

PROFOUND SIMPLICITY

I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Stuck in a time loop: I woke up, watched TV, fed my baby at regular intervals and went back to sleep. And then the next day it was the same, all over again. I got me *** loco. The good thing you come to realize is, that when you’re down, it all starts back from zero. And the only way is up. So, suddenly I’ve come to appreciate the simple things in these crazy times. For the first time in 15 years, I’ve jumped on my skateboard again, contacted people I’d lost sight of. I have to say I’m happier now than I was before the corona crisis.

NOA WILDSCHUT

LIVE IN THE MOMENT

I’ve done a drive-in concert, totally out of my comfort zone. Normally I see people in the audience instead of cars. Now I got a honking of horns instead of an applause. It was beautiful and moving, a merge of different emotions. It made me realize that it is important to live in the moment and not to dwell too much on the past.

EDDIE JORDAAN

MAKING THE BEST OF IT

Yes it’s annoying that you can’t give each other a kiss or look each other straight in the eye, but I’ve had to do it like this for years. Do you hear me whining? You just have to make the best of it. And when the Grim Reaper’s at the door, I say: ‘Hey! Will you take good care of me up there?’ So, yeah.

MC NEVSDEBOI

INTENSIFIED ENGAGEMENT

The crisis made me realize I was lost in the mists. We are so individualized and yet so disconnected from ourselves and each other. In the past months I have learned to focus on what is of true value: my family, friends & my health.

ROBIN RAMOS

TROPEN INSTITUUT

I think my way of dealing with this crisis is different. As a black queer I’ve always had to fight for my position in society. Opposing to restrictions became a second nature. I have received death threats like: “If you enter our town Dokkum we will rip your head off. As that is the way we do things around here” . I am witnessing a positive change in our ability to show empathy. Of course there is still a long way to go, but at least now the hamster wheel stopped turning we have more mind space to consider other people’s views.

PAUL TAMES VAN DE BERG

COMPELLED OPTIMISM

We really shouldn’t be saying this, but despite the terrible events, corona also has some positive side effects. After all, we are condemned to optimism. I remember very well that I had just been told that I had AIDS. My tears mixed with shower water. Until it occured to me: yesterday I knew I was going to die too, didn’t I? In fact, nothing changed at all.

timeframe images

the makers

An occasional ‘No Man’s Land’-collective of 20 creative minds is living proof that the corona crisis doesn’t just have to be restrictive. They all selflessly supported the message: from the director to the lightsman, from PR agency to post-editing, from drone pilot to subtitler and caterer. They were all driven by a fiery faith in human power, which can make the world after the lock-down a better place than it was before the crisis. 

An eclectic ensemble of heavyweights from the film industry and a number of debutants (inexperienced, but visionary) arose; a group that would never have crossed paths without the corona crisis.

INITIATORS

Christiana Rigaud

Executive Producer/concept

Luna Michel

Creative Director/writer

Michelle v Huisstede

Lead Producer

Jorin Lancee

Producer

Neda Farzanyar

Styling/producer

core

Daan Starrenburg

Sr. Producer

Bas Gosewisch

Digital strategist/development

Eyeforce/Back2back

Production

Arthur Neumeier

Sr. Producer

Shueti

Director

Nick van Tiem

Photographer

Thomas Buelens

D.O.P.

CREW

Mees Kleijn

Production Assistant

Eric Vader

Production Assistant

Erwan van Buuren

Steadycam

Willem de Wijs

Sound Recordist

Kim Hoogervorst

Drone Pilot

Rosa Koolhoven

Graphics

Yomama Catering

Catering

Jill Sanrodji

Production Assistant

Danny van Deventer

1st AC

Steven Tips

production assistant

Mick Durlacher

Gaffer

Johannes de Jong

Editor

Tom van Ooijen

Drone Cam

Morten Termeer

Creative Designer

Farah Abdi

A.D.

Erwan van Buuren

Steadycam

Uwe Kuipers

Gaffer

Barry Clarke

Colourist

Bas Moonen

Visual Effects

Rick Ronner

Reverb Master

Masha van Sintermaartensdijk

Production Assistant

Ab Gulten

Allround assistant (cam/light) 

Mike Laureys

Gripper

Joep Meijburg

Music Composer

Ruud Zeelenberg

Visual Effects

Lennard van der Last

Music

gear houses

SOUND DESIGN

filmlabS

PUBLIC RELATIONS

STYLING

Liesbeth Sterkenburg

Looks for Yuki Kempees

Bas Kosters

Facemask Yuki Kempees

Ronald van der Kemp

Looks for Olivia Lonsdale & Noa Wildschut

 

Franky Amsterdam

Jewellery 

Dylan Westerweel

Look Robin Ramos

DAILY PAPER

Look MC Nevsdeboi

PROPS

OBA Amsterdam

Boeken

Van den ende: Moleskine & Castelli

Notitieblokken

Xavier Lieveld

Picture Car

W.B. Gerbera

Bloemen

WANNA GET IN TOUCH?
info@thenomanslandproject.com