Whether it concerns visitors to a sex cinema in Helmond or a criminal who cannot sleep at night because he is terminal. Presenter Merlijn Passier delves into the darkness for his new program ‘Merlijn and the Nighthawks’ in search of special stories in Brabant. “We want to show everything that people do at night.”
The lights remain on in Brabant for a long time, but when night finally falls, Merlijn takes to the streets. For his new program he visits people who want to talk about a sensitive or ‘secret’ subject. Some appointments are made in advance, but there is also plenty of room for spontaneous encounters in each episode.
The first nights of shooting are now over and that has already yielded a lot. For example, Merlijn has already been to a sex cinema in Helmond. “That was very special,” he laughs. “I thought this was just a place where people watch sex films, but it turns out to also be a meeting place. People can meet up there via a forum.”
So the presenter decided to take a look at the cinema. “We went in there and I helped clean the place,” he says. “We don’t do censorship. We want to show everything that people do at night and what they like.”
In addition to the program, a platform has also been set up. “We hope this one online community can be and that can continue to exist after the program has been completed.” On the platform, people can (anonymously) confess what they get up to at night. This is already being done, because that is how Merlijn ended up in the sex cinema.
Merlijn also visited Boris* in Roosendaal. “He was a doorman at a club, but he ended up in the wrong environment. He became a criminal, dealt drugs and set up a drug laboratory,” says Merlijn. “Now he’s in the last few weeks of his life because he has cancer. He wants to confess and he’s telling us about it.”
Multiple people and stories are discussed in an episode. “But a story like Boris doesn’t actually fit completely into an episode. That’s why we are going to make a longer version of such stories and put it online on the platform. This way, stories come into their own even better.”
“At night there may be a little less incentive to talk about something.”
After Merlin left Boris again, he met two ladies on the street. “That was around half past four. We dived into Roosendaal and the two ladies had looked quite deeply into their drinks. That led to a nice conversation about broken relationships. This way you discover that every person has a story. In the night there may just be a little less of an obstacle to talking about something.”
Sometimes Merlin comes to places where it is not so obvious that there is a lot going on at night. “In a funeral home you have to be ready at night. We received a call at half past two in the morning that there had been a report of a deceased person,” he says. “We were allowed to be there everywhere: from the moment the hearse drives into the morgue, the body is taken out and placed on the table, to the moment the mouth is sewn shut.”
The television program will be broadcast on Brabant+ from May. Until then, everyone can already use the platform Merlin and the Nighthawks rightly and through a newsletter stay informed about new secrets. “Let’s break taboos together, because there is no need for shame,” says Merlijn. Anyone can submit their story on the website and a sneak peek into the program will be given.
*Boris’ real name is known to the editors.