Dromen van Holland

In the nineteenth century, Holland was overrun by foreign artists. They visited a country that to them looked very exotic. They captured it in paintings that found ready buyers abroad. In the book Dromen van Holland. Buitenlandse kunstenaars schilderen Holland 1800-1914 by Hans Kraan, this phenomenon is exhaustively documented. Kraan's book in hand, Delpeut makes a journey across his native country, along routes and stations that used to be popular among 19th century foreign artists: Dordrecht, Rotterdam, Katwijk, the bulb-growing area, Amsterdam, Zaandam. At the places and courses concerned, he tries to retrace the atmospheres and vistas as they were once painted. The present-day inhabitants - farmers, bulb growers, occupants of age-old houses - also still follow their imagination when watching the Dutch landscape. In the process, the film gradually becomes a portrait of the 'typical' Dutch landscape and the many dreams that can be projected on it.