Tu ne verras pas Verapaz

The former Belgian colony in Guatemala, Santo Tomas de Castilla, is an unfamiliar piece of Belgium's history. When Leopold I bought a piece of Guatemala in 1843, his goal was not to exploit valuable resources, but to reduce the crime level in Belgium. He inspired rich stock holders to start up the 'Company of Colonisation'. The Company handed out exotic engravings, fake letters supposedly written by Belgian migrants praising Santo Tomas as a land of plenty and representing Guatemala as a promised land. In this way they managed to deport the unemployed, losers and adventurers - rejects of nineteenth century society. An van Dienderen and Didier Volckaert look for the great-great-grandchildren of Belgian descendants in Guatemala. As a sort of poetic road movie, leading the audience from Ghent to Santo Tomas, the film's aim is to offer a personal exploration of the urge for the green grass over the hill, the 'El Dorado'. It hints at concepts such as cultural identity, nationalism, memory, paradise lost, diaspora narratives, and nostalgia.