Op het Noorden

Documentary about the life and work of the writer J. Bernlef. Director Leo de Boer allowed himself to be inspired by the novels and poems of the Dutch writer and his views on style and aesthetics. The main challenge was to provide a visual translation of important themes in Bernlef's work. The author's oeuvre focuses on the battle against 'Forgetting'. A visit to Sweden, where Bernlef wrote his first stories and poems, has to make it clear that the monotonous Swedish landscape is a suitable metaphor for forgetting. Many of Bernlef's stories and novels are set near the Polar Circle. Bernlef's inclination towards coolness and aloofness are illustrated in the film by shots of icebergs and unreal ice landscapes in Greenland.