De Muur 1973

Directed by Johan van der Keuken

In the district of Amsterdam where Johan van der Keuken lived with his family for more than twenty years, the "Islands of the West", the inhabitants were mobilised during then ‘70s in order to protest against the city’s policy of demolishing housing to make way for big commercial buildings. One misty October morning, they all got together to make a vast painting on one of the walls of a narrow road going through the district. A great day of community spirit. When the mural is finished, one can see the cranes and half demolished houses still there and a little further away the uninterrupted flow of traffic continues.