The Smell of Glass
The Smell of Glass
The smell of glass is a documentary about time and place. The film illustrates the transformation of the village of Lent into a suburb of the city of Nijmegen. Lent has been an agricultural region since 700 BC and was known for the many nurseries established in the area. The Smell of Glass was everywhere in the village.
Between 2010 and 2015 I followed the development of this region, the demolition of the greenhouses and the final break of the region with its past. Former horticulturists, new inhabitants and archaeologists tell their story and describe their struggles and changes in their village and importance of history by linking the past to the present and future
This project is realised with the help of Mondriaan Fund.
"The interviewed growers have been presented with respect. They could openly tell their stories and have them realistically portrayed as growers from Lent. By involving the personal dramas of the Janssen family and ours, you gave to the movie an emotional and human approach and showed how relative the history of Lent is, actually how relative life is. The combination of the grower's interviews together with the images from old movies, the archaeological excavations, your project and the movies of the demolition of many greenhouses made it a beautiful film.
My compliments! Joop Geurts (interviewed grower)"