Curaçao

Curaçao reveals the collectively repressed legacy of the Dutch on their former colony and offers a disturbing look into the influence this has on the contemporary Curaçao community. The film dives into the Dutch community of their former colony of Curaçao. At first glance, the Dutch don’t seem to care much for the island. They get together at parties and on the golf courses at the private resorts that belong to Dutch project developers. The blacks and whites on Curaçao hardly ever speak to each other. What necessary relations there are seem awkward and strained. But above all: in silence. Until the manager of the local Albert Heijn supermarket makes his black employees and the white management take a course with the motto: “Why do Antilleans refuse to be leaders?”. In the film it becomes clear, slowly but surely, that the Dutch hardly have any idea about their role in the island’s past. Let alone about the vast influences their role has on contemporary society. By examining this, Curaçao unravels the less pleasant aspects of the character of a trading nation that believes it always functions as the perfect role model.