LUCI
Non-fiction short film, installation, 40 min, 2022-2024.
Co-directed with Mateo Vega.
Distribution enquiries: mathieuwijdeven@gmail.com
World premiere: Nederlands Filmfestival – Golden Calf & Debut competitions, 2024, NL.
International premiere: Beijing International Short Film Festival - Best Film Award, 2024.
A search for the memory and legacy of performer and co-director Mathieu Wijdeven's great-great-grandfather: Surinamese artist G.G.T. Rustwijk (1862-1914), who went by the alias Luci. Rustwijk navigated post-slavery Suriname as a playwright and performer, a multidisciplinary artist, as a man of colour, and as an early critic of the Dutch colonial regime – before ultimately being forgotten. Using historical locations, site-specific performances, interviews and reimagined archive materials, we search for Rustwijk's "light", and what remains of it in modern-day Suriname.
Installation
The project was presented as a 6-channel video installation in Theater Rotterdam, as part of the TRipp space residency in the summer of 2022. Presented on a theatre stage, the installation gives the research a physical presence, and puts the audience in the viewpoint of the performer. Locations in Suriname enter into dialogue with the theatre stage in the Netherlands – culminating in a climax in which two theaters, one in Suriname and one in the Netherlands are overlayed. The installation was shown again at Schouwburg Kustmin, Energiehuis Dordrecht in 2023.
Credits
Written & directed by Mateo Vega & Mathieu Wijdeven
cinematography Sam Broekman
editing & grading Mateo Vega
sound design & mix Olmo van Straalen
sound recording Jamey-Leigh Resosemito
line producer Joël Aarland
soundtrack David J. Adan, E. Fishpool
production support & rentals Dave Edhard
visual effects Alessio Dispenza, Soyun Park, Lucas Huikeshoven
featuring Mathieu Wijdeven, Tessa Leuwsha, Nadia Tilon, Jamey-Leigh Resosemito, Humphrey Lamur, Raoul de Jong, Giwani Zeggen
Director's Statement
In 2019, Rotterdam-based theatre maker Mathieu Wijdeven stumbled upon the work of his great-great-grandfather G.G.T. Rustwijk, a largely overlooked yet significant figure in the cultural history of Suriname, a former Dutch colony on South America’s Caribbean coast. The film “Luci” originated with the desire to trace Rustwijk’s footsteps on location in Suriname. We thereby favored a way of working in which rather than arriving in Suriname with a preconceived plan, we wrote the entirety of the script on site. We hoped to create a film that although rooted in history, makes that history come alive and fosters a dialogue between past and present. Ultimately, “Luci” is a labor of love that seeks to honor and reinvigorate the legacy of G.G.T. Rustwijk, his “light”. It is both a personal journey and a reflection on broader societal themes such as Dutch-Caribbean diasporic identity, the colonial past, and critical thinkers and artists of color facing historical erasure.
Awards
Best Film 2024 - Beijing International Short Film
Nederlands Filmfestival – Golden Calf & Debut competitions,
Press
2024
Beijing International Short Film Festival Correspondence program