Op de Grens
Director Peter Delpeut
Countries Netherlands
Duration 22 min
Synopsis
What is nature? That tuft of bindweed between paving stones? Big bunches of nettles on an industrial park? A duck on a busy waterway? In the documentary Op de grens, director Peter Delpeut almost poetically explores the borders between nature and culture at the perimeters of Amsterdam. In harbours, industrial zones, allotment gardens and other cultivated pieces of capital, he lets people explain what they think about nature ('actually glad it's there', 'everything is a lot for someone who doesn't expect much'), or alert the spectator to manifestations of flora and fauna that are not always immediately visible. Between times, Delpeut captures that same nature by means of close-ups of mating beetles, pollinating flowers, shaking leaves and water birds peacefully bobbing about - with the slowly but inexorably advancing city in the background.
What is nature? That tuft of bindweed between paving stones? Big bunches of nettles on an industrial park? A duck on a busy waterway? In the documentary Op de grens, director Peter Delpeut almost poetically explores the borders between nature and culture at the perimeters of Amsterdam. In harbours, industrial zones, allotment gardens and other cultivated pieces of capital, he lets people explain what they think about nature ('actually glad it's there', 'everything is a lot for someone who doesn't expect much'), or alert the spectator to manifestations of flora and fauna that are not always immediately visible. Between times, Delpeut captures that same nature by means of close-ups of mating beetles, pollinating flowers, shaking leaves and water birds peacefully bobbing about - with the slowly but inexorably advancing city in the background.