The Polder Western is a collaborative project between Erika Roux and Pilar Mata Dupont that uses the genre of the Western to unpack various concerns regarding rising sea levels globally. Situated in the Netherlands, a country where the artists have lived for many years, this experiment in narrative and absurdism allows the artists to lead research and investigate personal concerns arising from living in an environmentally vulnerable country facing complex issues such as climate change and its (mis)management.
Through text-based research and interviews with multiple people working with and by the water in the Netherlands - sea-level researchers, millers, hydraulic engineers, artists and farmers - they have developed a speculative screenplay developed into a publication and a video installation called Scenes from the Polder Western.
Scenes from the Polder Western
four-channel video installation, 01:13:31, 2024
Written and Directed by
Pilar Mata Dupont and Erika Roux
Music Composition
Bergur Anderson
Producers
Estelle Levinson
Pilar Mata Dupont
Erika Roux
Main Cast
The Sea - The North Sea and the IJsselmeer
Horse - Banderas
Lone Wolf Janssen - Jesse Vlaarkamp
P - Simon Boer
K - Dawit de Koning
Etta Hooijmaaiers - Maria Brants
Jakob Hooijmaaiers - Skye Helfant
Claudette “Lonely Heart” Phillips (Karaoke singer) - Alexandra Phillips
Bar owner - Hasnaa Alaoui
Policeman - Bram Legerstee
Cassandra Morales - Helena Bittencourt
Laura Ponds - Petra Ball
Pepijn - Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk
First Assistant Director
Sophie Bates
Line Producer and Production Manager
Estelle Levinson
Third Assistant Director
Anna Łuczak
Production Assistants
Sander Mercier
Jaci Palm
The Man With No Fee
Víctor Santamarina
Cinematography
Stef van Wijk
B-roll, First Camera Assistant, and Bestboy
Ward Trommelen
Second Unit Cinematography
Marta Hryniuk
Binocular Footage
Víctor Santamarina
Gaffer
Marc Roodhart
Production Sound Mixer
Nick Thomas
Production Designer
Zino Bakker
Art Director
Pim Jongsma
Location Manager
Estelle Levinson
Costume Designer
Zino Bakker
Head Hair and Makeup
Robin Pels
Assistant Hair and Makeup
Varian Govers
Editors
Pilar Mata Dupont
Erika Roux
Sound Design and Mix
Jacco Prantl
Title Design
Rudy Guedj
Colourist
Marta Hryniuk
Horse Master
Ton Does at Media Horses International
Funders and Supporters
Made possible by Mondriaan Fonds, Gemeente Rotterdam, CBK Rotterdam, RADIUS Center for Contemporary Art and Ecology, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Kunsthuis SYB, Het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Ton Does and Media Horses International, and WET