Pretpark Nederland

Dutch people do strange things in their leisure time. This much is clear in the documentary Michiel van Erp made about places where the average Dutchman recreates: Bataviastad, the Efteling, the Libelle Week somewhere in a polder, Gay Pride and the Prinsengracht concert. With his typical tongue-in-cheek style, Van Erp portrays the participants and organisers of these events. The thread through the film is the group of travelling Chinese tourists, who watch all events with the same unwary amazement. Containing often hilarious scenes, the film provides a keen insight into the national character of the Dutch, who use thinly-disguised tricks to try and persuade visitors to buy stuff, who migrate from rural districts to Amsterdam in droves to 'watch gays' for a day, and who ignore all prohibitions and social conventions to secure a nice place on the canal at a free concert.