As part of a Euregional film project, students from the Grotius and Broekland College from Heerlen went in search of the colonial past in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine.
The outcome of their search was captured in the documentary Euregio postcolonia(a)l, which premiered on Monday at the Royal in Heerlen. In addition to pupils from Grotius and Broekland, the project also benefited pupils from the Paul-Julius-Reuter Berufskollege from Aachen and GO! Next Level X from Hasselt cooperated.
Awareness
With the documentary, the makers want to raise awareness about the events in the former colonies of the Netherlands (Indonesia), Belgium (Belgian Congo) and Germany (including today’s Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia). In addition, attention is paid to the effect of the colonial past on today’s society.
‘No sweeties’
The search for the colonial past impressed the students. Among them Thijmen Hermans of the Grotius: “I already knew a lot about the Netherlands. But not about Germany and Belgium. The feeling lingers that the Belgians were a bit worse than the Dutch. In Congo it was very horrific. But the Germans and we Dutch were not sweethearts either.”
Current theme
The colonial past and all the abuses committed there are still having an effect. “Just think of the Black Lives Matter movement and also the war in Ukraine,” says Griet Cordemans, initiator of the project on behalf of the Paul Julius Reuter Berufskollege in Aachen. “It is not a pleasant subject, but all students indicate that they have learned a lot.”
Jorgen Raymann
A special guest at the premiere is comedian and TV presenter Jörgen Raymann, who himself has a Surinamese background. “We desperately need to talk about the colonial past. If we don’t learn from history, we’re not worth a cut.”
Raymann, whose family history is also largely located in Roermond, notice that there is still a lot of polarization within this theme. “We have to examine the entire European colonial history. The wealth of Europe stems from that time. I think it is important that we realize that. It also creates understanding. I am Dutch, but when people see my appearance, they often wonder how I can be Dutch. By understanding the past, they understand why I belong here. And that it makes no sense if people say to me: get rid of where you came from.”