Who am I? #1 Luci (2024)
Suriname and the Netherlands share a long and complex past, yet the stories, voices, and cultural contributions of Surinamese people have not been celebrated enough within mainstream narratives. By learning about Surinamese culture, we not only honor a vibrant heritage but also confront the legacies of colonialism that continue to shape both societies today. For this reason, we felt it was only fitting to begin our first edition with a focus on Surinamese identity to reflect on how histories live on in the present.
In this first edition of our cultural screening series Who am I?, we will start our program with the film Luci (2024) directed by Mathieu Wijdeven and Mateo Vega accompanied with a warm Surinamese food service and Q&A after. Luci is a short archive documentary (40 min) about the memory and legacy of the great-great-grandfather of performer and co-director Mathieu Wijdeven: the Surinamese artist G.G.T. Rustwijk (1862-1914), also known by his pseudonym Luci.
Rustwijk lived in Suriname shortly after slavery as a theater maker and performer, multidisciplinary artist, as a man of color and as an early critic of the Dutch colonial regime – before he finally fell into oblivion. This archival documentary investigates the ‘light’ of Rustwijk and what has remained of it in today’s Suriname on the basis of performance, interviews, archival material and historical locations. Luci was selected for a Gouden Kalf (debut competition) in the Netherlands Film Festival.
Following the screening, we will host a Q&A with co-director and performer Mathieu Wijdeven, Rustwijk’s descendant inviting reflections on identity, cultural inheritance, and the emotional complexities of returning to one’s roots.
To complement the screening, we invite guests to join us before the event for a warmly prepared vegetarian Surinamese food service which you can take with you to the screening. Rooted in tradition and rich with flavor, the meal offers a moment to share a communal experience. By pairing cinema with cuisine, this program aims to create a multi-sensory experience that connects storytelling to taste, history to present, and individual memory to collective culture.
The film will be in Dutch language with English subtitles.
Program:
Wednesday 14 may 2025
18:30 – 19:30 Food Service & Drinks
19:30 – 19:40 Welcome & Introduction
19:40 – 20:20 Film Screening: Luci
20:20 – 21:00 Q&A
About the Who am I? Series:
Who am I? is a monthly curated film and cultural program that explores the layered and evolving experience of cultural identity. Curated by Alya Yumrukçal, a film and documentary programmer deeply interested in questions of belonging, this series invites audiences to reflect on where they come from, what they carry with them, and how identity is formed across time, space, and memory.
Through building a film program that explores global identities from a transnational perspective I aim to bring both national and international communities together to feel belonged and welcomed despite their physical distances from their original cultures and countries. I aim to create a dialogue between understanding our families, friends, neighbours, through connecting and thinking critically about the way our cultures shape who we are.