Tobacco, Truths and Rummikub

The first households in Nieuwland in Schiedam have seen their neighbourhood change. They are now the white minority, many of them older than 80. After them came the immigrants for whom Nieuwland became again a new land. For over a year, in 2009- 2010, Steef Meyknecht followed four stories out of the neighborhood of Nieuwland, Schiedam, The Netherlands: The sixth form of the Islamic primary school Ababil, Riet's Rummikub club, Uli's tobacco store and Ferry, the local policeman. Together the stories form a meaningful portrait of this deprived urban area.

Social and political issues take on a human face. Ms Kevser Ŏzen prepares her class for the entrance exam. The Dutch language is a big hindrance. Tobacco shop owner Uli Schenkers is trying to make his dream come true: his own tobacco shop. Kids like to hang out at Uli's and elderly people feel at home in the shop. At Riet's Rummikub club, the elderly ladies talk about their lives and the changes in their neighbourhood. Local policeman Ferry Lockhorst can be seen anywhere: visiting lonely people, discovering well-hidden weed plantations and visiting Uli, the tobacconist, mot only when there are complaints but also because he cannot give up smoking.


Steef Meyknecht

Steef Meyknecht is an independent documentary filmmaker. His work has been screened by different Dutch public senders. The documentaries have been selected for a variety of festivals, such as: Cinéma du Reél, Paris; festival di Populi, Florence; Moscow documentary film festival, RAI film festival, Manchester. As a freelance photographer Steef Meyknecht realizes assignments for the Dutch administration and various institutions. He has a part-time position at the department of Cultural Anthropology, University of Leiden, the Netherlands. As a Social Anthropologist with professional experience in photography and filmmaking, he is teaching Visual Ethnography. The observational documentary cinema is over here his main focus of interest.