Belichaam de Aarde

In Embody the Earth, Rotterdam youth city poet Vienne Hagoort is reborn from water as a symbol of how the city of Rotterdam rose from nothing.

On the dark surface of the Rotterdam Rotte some water lilies float by, the sun has just set, but the water never sleeps. A young girl appears, with closed eyes she lies calmly in the cold water with dozens of flowers floating around her. This is Rotterdam’s youth city-poet Vienne Hagoort. She opens her eyes and in a soft voice she recites her poem. She closes her eyes and the dark water glows brightly. Slowly she gets up, reborn from water, and through the leaves she looks at the sky. The sky changes into water, and the water changes into Rotterdam.

‘embody the earth’ is the fourth film in the short film series ‘between the lines’, a series of films based on the poems by Rotterdam city poet Dean Bowen. Created by Rauwkost-Collective in collaboration with the Central Library of Rotterdam and OPEN Rotterdam.