Nederlands Film Festival | Ongeschreven Regels

A man who sells old books in front of the filmmaker’s house suddenly disappears. What begins as a search turns into a reflection on change and the human longing to get a grip on the passing of time.

The film moves through a centuries-old arcade that is home to a second-hand book market. Every stall, chair, tree and bookseller carries a silent history. Poort sketches the image of a place that appears to be unchanged, but is revealed to be in a constant state of transformation. Personal observations, archival footage, conversations and paper collages are combined in this short essay film. Books become portals, the passageway turns into a landscape of memory.