Production year 2017
Production Filmwerkstatt Münster
Between Nottuln and Billerbeck, the headwaters of the Berkel lie in the picturesque Baumberge mountains and meander westwards through the Münsterland parkland to flow into the IJssel as a navigable river in Zutphen, NL.
Two authors from the respective border regions meet and explore this historically rich cultural area, which is characterised by the Low German language:
Production: Filmwerkstatt Münster
Producer: Winfried Bettmer
executive production / production manager: Steffi Köhler
Anna Schlottbohm, who grew up at the source, returns to her homeland as a newly qualified media scientist to rediscover it.
Willem Kootstra, a polyglot journalist from Neede and student of the German-Dutch author Willy H. Heitling, wants to dedicate a film homage to his beloved landscape at the end of his career.
The two collect stories and places with an observational camera. They explore the Münsterland / Achterhoek border region and ask people about the characteristics that give the region its identity. The montage creates a loving portrait of a divided and structurally neglected region with great potential.
Only when one captures the pulse of this region do the pearls of the landscape by the river that characterises the people reveal themselves. These are depicted in the tradition of Dutch landscape painting.

Photo credit: Steffi Köhler