Nieuw Tiengemeten

Ever since 1994, documentary-maker Digna Sinke has followed the progress on the island of Tiengemeten, located in the Haringvliet inlet in Zuid-Holland. At the time, it was announced the island would be returned to nature, so the farmers who had settled there had to move. This process took over a decade and was covered in two previous documentaries. In this third instalment, we see a new process: making the island 'ready for nature' again. Because, Sinke asserts in her laconic voice-over, 'giving land back to nature is not straightforward.' It involves an extensive policy plan, and a long itinerary of contractors and designers. People meet and talk endlessly, about 'subsidy flows', 'monitoring' and 'expectation management'. Sinke observes and poses the question: can you devise and make nature? Her years of experience on the island are reflected in recurring visual time lapses, demonstrating how certain places changed over the past decade.