Under Construction: The Netherlands

Immigration has become a sensitive topic in Dutch society of late. As a commentary on this, Dick Bakker created a series of films called Under Construction: The Netherlands, portraying Dutch residency permits. In the square frame normally reserved for the passport photo, Bakker added film footage of the person in question, making immigrants come alive as individuals rather than remaining an anonymous statistic. For Bakker, the ongoing discussion does not represent the true face of immigration today. The film doubles as a metaphor for the adaptations migrants make to fit into a foreign society. Migration lawyer Jeremy Bierbach was involved in the realisation of the project.