My first forray into the world of professional filmmaking (and I use the word 'professional' quite liberally here) - as well as my first collaboration with director Silvain Hooglander - was a short black-and- white film called INTEGREREN KUN JE LEREN (IT'S GREAT TO INTEGRATE). We made it in 2002 for about 20 euros, I believe. Wrote it in a day or two, shot it in four, finished it a couple of days later. Quick and dirty. Those were the good ol' days. We didn't need any permits or quit claims or contracts. Just a good idea and a camera.The six minute short was our entry for a pan-European film competition organized by Canal Plus, who wanted filmmakers from across Europe to put their views on immigration and integration on film. Now just about the only thing we were convinced about at the time was that we had a lot of fun making a silly little film, so imagine our surprise when we were told that INTEGREREN had just won the Grand Jury Prize and would be televised by Canal Plus all across Europe.
The basic idea behind INTEGREREN was pretty simple: we spoofed old Dutch 'Polygoon'-newsreels by presenting a hammy 'Integration and You'-type education film, in which ethnic minorities are taught how to properly integrate into Dutch culture. 'Properly' meaning they had to learn how to put gobs of mayonaise on their food, how to cosy up their mosques by decorating them with pictures of our Queen and how to dance the birdy-dance.
And hilarity ensues.
No seriously. Looking back, even though the film is pretty patronizing in parts and looks kind of cheap, I stand by its clever setup in getting a simple message across: integration is not the same thing as assimilation. It's been nearly six years since we won that Canal Plus-prize and I still don't think that message has lost any of its validity. I really couldn't care less if you listen to Jan Smit or Laila Ghofran on your iPod, if you eat bacon or lamb for dinner, or if you speak Dutch or Chinese at home. As long as you live your life within the confines of the law ('cause that's what it's for), you can stay true to your own culture and customs as much as you wish.
Politics and what can be perceived as the 'general view' on the integration of ethnic minorities has changed a lot these past years though. Here in Holland, and abroad. The tone of the debate has unfortunately turned into a grimmer direction, with people on both ends of the political spectrum slinging mud at each other - basically leaving no room at all for any kind of intelligent and constructive discussion. And now, if we are to believe the media, the end of days is upon us, as politician and bad hairdo-enthusiast Geert Wilders has announced a film called Fitna, already dubbed an 'anti-Islam'-film, even though nobody has seen it yet.
Now most muslims I know (and I know a few) shrug their shoulders when I ask them about 'the film'. They actually don't give a shit. "If Wilders thinks I interpret the Quran as an excuse for violence and intolerance, than that's his problem, not mine", they say. Of course, that's not what the tv-news shows us. What we need is some old fashioned flag burning! And so, every report on that Wilders- movie is accompanied by images of scary-looking bearded folk in Kabul warning us of impending doom while setting Dutch and Danish flags on fire. Now how on earth those guys manage to get hold of a pristine Dutch flag in Kabul - where you can hardly buy a piece of soap - is beyond me, but they sure know how to stir a riot.
Surely, our country's fearless leaders can see through this blatent attempt at opportunistic fear mongering by extremist religious factions, right? Wrong! It seems our PM, Jan-Peter Balkenende, has seen the four horsemen of the apocalypse approaching and has more or less officially apologized to the aforementioned scary bearded people in advance - for a film he has not even seen, claiming there are limits to Freedom of Speech. And if there aren't any, he's pretty sure there should be.
Now I'm not big on Wilders and his polarizing politics - and I certainly don't expect much from that Fitna-thing - but I am very principled about the basic human right we call Freedom of Speech. To me, the freedom to think for yourself, to be able to express your opinion - no matter how much it differs from everyone else's, is the most fundemental (and axiomatic) building block for any civilized society. Most other liberties we enjoy are subordinate to it, as they are useless without it. I mean, how can you value the right to vote for a parlement or president when only one party or candidate has the freedom to campaign? (case in point: the recent Russian election)
Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech, in other words: Freedom of Thought is an inalienable right that defines us as civilized human beings. The fact that certain people within any given society are going to feel 'offended' by the opinion of others doesn't change anything about that. Nobody ever said that living with freedom was going to be easy. Or come cheap. The whole hubbub surrounding Fitna once again proves this. And sorry, but if you don't like the price tag, then maybe you should just find another store to shop in.
And no, you can't limit Freedom of Speech, simply because it is an absolute. You either have it, or you don't. There's no such thing as 'a little bit of Freedom of Speech'. Because how do you limit it? And by whose standards? How do you define 'offensive'? Dutch comedian Hans Teeuwen recently said that what some people consider offensive, is sometimes nothing more than a truth they just don't want to hear. Couldn't agree more.
For everyone's God's sake, people, just grow some friggin' thick skin.
Back in 2002, after INTEGREREN aired on Canal Plus, I actually received a couple of threatening emails from people who claimed that Silvain and I were 'traitors' for 'mocking Dutch culture', or something along that line. These emails proved to me that a) not a lot of people are privy to the concept of parody and b) you never ever give in to people who try to limit your Freedom by using fear and intimidation. You want to learn how to cope with offensive comments? Come work in the movie industry for a while! It'll sort you right out. Nothing fills your artistic ego with everlasting joy more than red marker and revision notes all over your first draft.
