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