Amsterdam Global Village

In this four-hour epic, Holland's most prolific documentary maker portrays his home town of Amsterdam and the people who live there. On this labyrinthine journey the camera glides along the city's canals, down its streets and across its squares. On the way he encounters old and new Amsterdammers, a variety of characters from all corners of the world, on “a voyage around the world in his own home town". The hero of the film is Khalid, a young Moroccan moped courier who takes the viewer along as he races round town. Johan van der Keuken has woven a patchwork of personal tales together with major global issues of the 1990's to create a loving portrait of the Amsterdam that has for centuries been a refuge for so many outsiders and yet retains its village charm.