Amsterdam, Traces of Sugar (2017)

In the award-winning documentary ‘Amsterdam. Traces of sugar’, TV personality Noraly Beyer and rapper Typhoon (Glenn de Randamie) unravel their family histories, marked by slavery, while artist Patricia Kaersenhout, encourages her audience to reflect on slavery. As a teenager, Noraly Beyer was surprised by the fact that her maiden name Oostvriesland is written on the façade of an Amsterdam warehouse on the Damrak. In ancient archives in Surinam, she discovers the origin of the name. Patricia Kaersenhout has discovered that sugar and blood have a lot to do with each other. She turned this into a gripping work of art. Typhoon discovers a special story in his family tree. The rapper feels a deep emotional bond with his ancestors and expresses that in his music. Amsterdam had an important role in the administration of the colonies and in the trade of enslaved Africans through the WIC (West India Company). The urban landscape has many tangible traces that lead back to this period. The Black Heritage Tours guides the audience to these places. With these personal stories, the documentary examines the shared history of Surinam and the Netherlands. How are the transatlantic slave trade and slavery encoded in Dutch memory? How does the past affect our present?