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DUTCH COCAINE FACTORY
Jeanette Groenendaal Scenario, Camera, Director and Producer Docu-tective, Documentary | 55 min | Netherlands | 2007 Through footage derived from a 16 cam self-surveillance videodiary we are swept into the pro-paranoia world view of Dutch Cocaine Factory. Champions league cocaine consumer Arend, a lawyer and a drugs scientist unveil a well-kept secret of the past, the Dutch Cocaine Factory. Until World War II, the Netherlands were the largest producer of quality cocaine in the world. An attempt to fair trade? What if cocaine production prices would not extend the price of coffee? Who surveys the surveillance? Arend seeks 'Solutions', while the decadent party feasts on (we visit the Wasteland and Erwin Olafs parties in Amsterdam). The power of the images, the structure of the film and the implausibility of the events are reminiscent of fiction, but performance artist Jeanette Groenendaal's documentary debut tells the truth and nothing but the truth.
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IDFA DAILY 2007
At the heart of Jeanette Groenendaal’s Dutch Cocaine Factory resides Arend ter Horst, a 63-year-old cocaine addict who betrays all the signs of acute paranoia. It becomes very clear early on in the film that this paranoia is far from misplaced.
‘I was shocked to read [transcripts of] the telephone calls that I had made to Arend,’ explains Groenendaal. ‘I always thought fear of telephone taps was just paranoid, and that I had nothing to hide, but when I read back everything, that was when I decided to make this film.’
So Groenendaal commences a documentary journey with Arend that reveals the terrifying degree of surveillance – or ‘digital chasing’, as a Dutch lawyer refers to it – that takes place within the Netherlands. ‘I took my camera along because I wanted to find out what was going on; what was right and wrong. And was I a suspect as well?’ En route, she tells the story of the original Dutch cocaine factory which, in the 1920s, imported up to 2 million pounds (900 tons) of cocoa leaves per year to fire an extremely profitable – and perfectly legal – industry. Cocaine wine was delivered to the Pope and the American president, who commented on the ‘excellent mood’ it created. Eventually the US, unable to break into the lucrative cocaine trade, introduced a prohibition whose global influence became endemic.
The character of Arend fills the film. The CCTV footage of the police raid on his house at the beginning is genuinely shocking. Later in the film, he calls ‘cut!’; an instruction taken on board in a filmic sense by Groenendaal, until she realises that it’s the cocaine that he wants cut, not the camera. The footage of his withdrawal from its use is disturbing, but he reveals a deliciously dry humour when assessing the substitute substances deployed to bulk out the coke. ‘It’s no longer the real thing,’ he observes.
‘I think he is a visionary,’ comments Groenendaal. ‘In India, a person on the edge of society who has been using drugs for forty years would be a holy man. In our past in Holland, we have given space to these people to grow and experiment. Now, within this new, controlled society, we are suddenly criminalising them.’
Nick Cunningham
At the heart of Jeanette Groenendaal’s Dutch Cocaine Factory resides Arend ter Horst, a 63-year-old cocaine addict who betrays all the signs of acute paranoia. It becomes very clear early on in the film that this paranoia is far from misplaced.
‘I was shocked to read [transcripts of] the telephone calls that I had made to Arend,’ explains Groenendaal. ‘I always thought fear of telephone taps was just paranoid, and that I had nothing to hide, but when I read back everything, that was when I decided to make this film.’
So Groenendaal commences a documentary journey with Arend that reveals the terrifying degree of surveillance – or ‘digital chasing’, as a Dutch lawyer refers to it – that takes place within the Netherlands. ‘I took my camera along because I wanted to find out what was going on; what was right and wrong. And was I a suspect as well?’ En route, she tells the story of the original Dutch cocaine factory which, in the 1920s, imported up to 2 million pounds (900 tons) of cocoa leaves per year to fire an extremely profitable – and perfectly legal – industry. Cocaine wine was delivered to the Pope and the American president, who commented on the ‘excellent mood’ it created. Eventually the US, unable to break into the lucrative cocaine trade, introduced a prohibition whose global influence became endemic.
The character of Arend fills the film. The CCTV footage of the police raid on his house at the beginning is genuinely shocking. Later in the film, he calls ‘cut!’; an instruction taken on board in a filmic sense by Groenendaal, until she realises that it’s the cocaine that he wants cut, not the camera. The footage of his withdrawal from its use is disturbing, but he reveals a deliciously dry humour when assessing the substitute substances deployed to bulk out the coke. ‘It’s no longer the real thing,’ he observes.
‘I think he is a visionary,’ comments Groenendaal. ‘In India, a person on the edge of society who has been using drugs for forty years would be a holy man. In our past in Holland, we have given space to these people to grow and experiment. Now, within this new, controlled society, we are suddenly criminalising them.’
Nick Cunningham
2007 Magic Hour Award
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2007 Official Selection
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2007 Official Selection
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2007 Official Selection
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2007 Official Selection
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Prices/select: IDFA 2007 Premiere Paradocs, Transvizualia Polish Documentary channel, Somnio Filmfestival Bergen, PAFID Patagonia De Balie Amsterdam, Theater Kikker preview ’t Hoogt Utrecht, Focus Film theater Arnhem, Vera Zienema Groningen. Plaza Futura Eindhoven, Planet Doc Review Warsaw, Filmhuis Lumière Maastricht, Cinekarree Aken, Filmhuis Den Haag, Seoul Independent Documentary Film & video Festival Korea, Illuseum Amsterdam, Planet Doc Review Warsaw, De Brakke Grond Amsterdam, De Poorterij Zaltbommel, Filmhuis Lumen Delft, HOTDOCS DOC SHOP Toronto- Canada, TEK filmfestival Rome, Verkadefabriek Den Bosch, Film Museum Amsterdam, DOCUFEST Kosovo, Ketelhuis Amsterdam, Bogota Colombia, Dockanema festival Maputo Mozambique, Kassel Film en documentary festival, “Under Influence” Kunsthaus Dresden Germany, Nationale Wetenschapsdag Leiden, “All about Freedom” Gdansk, Women’s Art Festival Le Pont Gallery Aleppo Syria, “Strikt Vertrouwelijk” Leiden Scheltema complex, De Nieuwe Anita Amsterdam, Dasha Cinema Amsterdam, Artisterium New Art Café Tbilisi Georgie, Villa Garigula Georgie, Patagonia experimental filmfestival South America.
IDFA trailer Dutch Cocaine factory
A film by Jeanette Groenendaal
Produced by G-netwerk
With
Arend ter Horst
criminal lawyer
Mr. Leon van Kleef
Criminology, drug researcher, Bonger Institute,UvA
Dr.Ton Nabben
Criminal law, Erasmus University
Dr. Damián Zaitch
Addiction treatment consultant
Don Schothorst
Camera
Jeanette Groenendaal
Additional Camera
Martin Hansen
Zoot Derks
Robin Noorda
Jeroen Weeda
Omar Wilson
Arend ter Horst
Original Intellex camera 16 cameras x 3 years
24/7 selfsurveillance
Off line Edit
Jeanette Groenendaal
Zoot Derks
Martin Hansen
Jan Dries Groenendijk
Online Edit
Zoot Derks
Sound
Zoot Derks,
Martin Hansen
Jeanette Groenendaal
Audio post production
Warning Studios
Sound design
Jan Dries Groenendijk
Music
Glamour Twins, 20th Century boy
Björn Warning, Moral Fashion
Aura-photography
Arend ter Horst
Stills
Tropenmuseum Amsterdam Bianca Schrouwen
Authorised video material
GNN Alex Jones DJI AT5 NOS
Guest appearances
Diver 1 Ilse Diver 2 Teus
Jaguardriver Ben
Perp Noud Verhaave
Dealer Zoot
Singer Gunnar Smit
Bass player Karin Boukema
Tango Dancer Margreet Sweerts
Participants of ZootenGenant Installations
Erwin Olaf “Fuque les Balles”
Particpants of ZootandGenant
Installation Wasteland
Script Advices
Frouke Fokkema
Femke Baljet
Binger Institute
Story Board
Zoot Derks
Subtitles
Zoot
Derks
Translation
Alison Fisher
Colour Correction
Jeroen Weeda
Techincal support
Jeroen Weeda
Zoot Derks
Björn Warning
Sponsors
ZootenGenant
Vault Productions
Erwin Olaf Studios
Locations
Luchtmacht, Air Force Show
DJI Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen
Bonger Criminology Institute
Tropenmuseum
Hortus Botanicus
St Nicholas Church
Speedo
Rotterdamse haven
Sluiswachter IJmuiden
haven Koninklijke Hoogovens Ijmuiden
“van Gent Hallen” Het Oosten
Academia de Tango, Amsterdam
Gil en Moti Gallery
Sugar Factory
Power Zone
De Zwaai
Solutions
Special thanks to
Ritsaert ten Cate
-A DasArts Final-
This film was financially supported by
the Netherlands Film Fund
Produced by G-netwerk
With
Arend ter Horst
criminal lawyer
Mr. Leon van Kleef
Criminology, drug researcher, Bonger Institute,UvA
Dr.Ton Nabben
Criminal law, Erasmus University
Dr. Damián Zaitch
Addiction treatment consultant
Don Schothorst
Camera
Jeanette Groenendaal
Additional Camera
Martin Hansen
Zoot Derks
Robin Noorda
Jeroen Weeda
Omar Wilson
Arend ter Horst
Original Intellex camera 16 cameras x 3 years
24/7 selfsurveillance
Off line Edit
Jeanette Groenendaal
Zoot Derks
Martin Hansen
Jan Dries Groenendijk
Online Edit
Zoot Derks
Sound
Zoot Derks,
Martin Hansen
Jeanette Groenendaal
Audio post production
Warning Studios
Sound design
Jan Dries Groenendijk
Music
Glamour Twins, 20th Century boy
Björn Warning, Moral Fashion
Aura-photography
Arend ter Horst
Stills
Tropenmuseum Amsterdam Bianca Schrouwen
Authorised video material
GNN Alex Jones DJI AT5 NOS
Guest appearances
Diver 1 Ilse Diver 2 Teus
Jaguardriver Ben
Perp Noud Verhaave
Dealer Zoot
Singer Gunnar Smit
Bass player Karin Boukema
Tango Dancer Margreet Sweerts
Participants of ZootenGenant Installations
Erwin Olaf “Fuque les Balles”
Particpants of ZootandGenant
Installation Wasteland
Script Advices
Frouke Fokkema
Femke Baljet
Binger Institute
Story Board
Zoot Derks
Subtitles
Zoot
Derks
Translation
Alison Fisher
Colour Correction
Jeroen Weeda
Techincal support
Jeroen Weeda
Zoot Derks
Björn Warning
Sponsors
ZootenGenant
Vault Productions
Erwin Olaf Studios
Locations
Luchtmacht, Air Force Show
DJI Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen
Bonger Criminology Institute
Tropenmuseum
Hortus Botanicus
St Nicholas Church
Speedo
Rotterdamse haven
Sluiswachter IJmuiden
haven Koninklijke Hoogovens Ijmuiden
“van Gent Hallen” Het Oosten
Academia de Tango, Amsterdam
Gil en Moti Gallery
Sugar Factory
Power Zone
De Zwaai
Solutions
Special thanks to
Ritsaert ten Cate
-A DasArts Final-
This film was financially supported by
the Netherlands Film Fund
Parool.tv
Storyboard by Zoot Derks
