In Onze Natuur
A film by Jorick Buurstra and Bastiaan de Haas.
In Our Nature is a visual portrait of the Dutch in their attempt at mending their broken relationship with nature. They are faced with their most difficult adversary yet: themselves.
In Onze Natuur revolves around the battle between humans and nature in the Netherlands. This hybrid of documentary and dance film by filmmakers Jorick Buurstra and Bastiaan de Haas investigates the absurdity of the relationship between man and nature that lies hidden within our way of living. The film shows a humankind that wants to take better care of nature, yet struggles with the conflict between its own prosperity and that of the rest of the ecosystem. Dance scenes show the emotional journey of a dancer who rediscovers her own connection with nature. Slowly but surely she starts to see how her own mindset towards nature is the greatest threat from which she must protect it.
Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.
—Pina Bausch
As young creators, we are part of the first generation that will be confronted with the first visible consequences of climate change for the better part of our lives. We grew up on news of the disastrous future ahead and we watched the adults of our Western society choose negligence time and time again. Negligence that will cost our generation dearly in the years to come.
Despite several decades of scientific evidence showing that our current lifestyle is destroying the ecosystem on which we humans depend, we haven’t changed our ways. This confirmed to us that the problem lies much deeper than the effects of the current climate emergency. In Onze Natuur is about this underlying issue.
In the recent history of our Western society, we identified how slowly but surely we have increasingly isolated ourselves from nature. Somewhere along the development of our western society the idea arose that we as humans belong to a completely different category from the rest of life on earth. We have put ourselves above all other forms of life, therefore giving ourselves the right to exploit them for our own gain.
For our generation, an urgent change in how we relate to nature is vital. Hence this film, in which we don’t want to point fingers but show through absurdist contradictions how even with the best of intentions, we still have a severely broken relationship with nature that stands in the way of * our best attempts at real system change.
Our characters do their best for the ecosystem in their own way, but are each still a product of our culture and society.
Direction en Production – Jorick Buurstra & Bastiaan de Haas
Executive Producent – Ciska Meister
1st Assistant Director – Anouk Genrich
Director of Photography – Jorick Buurstra
Componist – Matthijs van der Wilt
Choreography – Lotte Hamelink
Art Director – Iris Schutgevaar
Art Department
Leone van Leeuwen
Eva Luna van Stigt Thans
Gaffer – Lawrence Lee Kalkman
Best boy – Daan de Graaff
Focus Puller – Felix Dukker
Production assistants
Yorben den Hartog
Charlotte Schenk
Caterer – Jabe Sverre Oost
Sound – Charlotte Schenk
Editor – Joshua Pinheiro Ferreira
Colorist – Davey Anthony
Sound Design – Jorick Buurstra
Title and Graphic Design – Sanya Gurung
Translation – Paula van Rooijen
PMD – Jabe Sverre Oost
With the support of Stichting Droom en Daad en Gemeente Rotterdam
Project details
- Year
- 2021
- In collaboration with:
- Jorick Buurstra
- Programme
- audiovisual-design
- Practices
- Social
- Minor
- New Earth