Gyz La Rivière

Malin is what the Chinese made of Maring – an alias used by Henk Sneevliet. By now, he is probably best known for the Amsterdam metro stop named after him, but who was Sneevliet? Artist Gyz La Rivière is the TV reporter and newsreader who regales his viewers with the tale of the man’s impressive past. Born in Rotterdam, Sneevliet became a passionate communist who left for Russia and China, where he hung out with the likes of Lenin and Mao.

Rotterdam 2040 is a film about the city’s future, departing from the principle of Gyz La Rivière that you can’t look ahead without considering your past (something that hasn’t always been Rotterdam’s strongest feature). At high speed, La Rivière reconstructs the history of Rotterdam from the time before the bombings until now, and expands the developments to the year 2040 (100 years after the bombing and the 700th anniversary of the city). La Rivière made a specific choice to expose his personal vision, which is sometimes radical or a little absurd. So no experts and no talking heads, but an assault of old and new imagery, held together by La Rivière as the narrator of the film. Although Rotterdam 2040 deals with architecture and urban renewal, it is actually a film about people. The subjective experience of the city by its (future) occupants mainly determines the parade of architectural blunders and suggestions for the future. All tongue-in-cheek of course.