And One Good Day-And Then One Day (2011)

Directed by: Heddy Honigmann | 30 minutes | short film | Actors: Maryam Hassouni, Nasrdin Dchar, Johanna ter Steege

The fact that even an accomplished filmmaker like Heddy Honigmann (‘El Olvido’, ‘O amor natural’) has to rely on crowd sourcing to finance her film in the Netherlands, says a lot about the Dutch film climate, but fortunately little about the quality of the film. production. However, this open way of financing fits in with the theme of the film: in a society and zeitgeist in which people are pitted against each other and can only expect little from the state, solidarity is the only solution. That is a beautiful message in these uncertain times, and the simple way in which Honigmann delivers it is enlightening and moving at the same time.

The film opens with an old-fashioned series of images showing that the headscarf – in whatever form – has been used by women all over the world for many years. In the Netherlands, too, the Zaanse, Zeeland, Alkmaar and Urk women wore a cloth, cap or other covering – and not just them. Their men wore a cap or hat as a cover, just as soldiers, members of the royal family, carnival-goers, police officers, Ghanaian, Surinamese, Indian, Bengali, and finally Moroccan women also cover or adorn their heads. No cloth is like the other, and it is precisely this variety of headscarves that represents the cultural and aesthetic character. The film opens in documentary style with this culturally relativistic idea, until it is decided ‘one day’ to introduce a ban on headscarves. From that moment begins a fictional story about a young Moroccan who tries to cope with this sudden ban.

Honigmann’s light-hearted yet critical tone raises a few interesting questions. Is headwear really only allowed if it is cheerful and innocent? And does that perhaps apply to anything that is not Dutch or modern? As long as it remains cozy and innocent, it can be given a place in the Netherlands. So the Turkish baker but not the Polish painter? The Surinamese toko but not the Romanian accordionist? Can an ‘immigrant’ phenomenon only earn its right to exist if it is of some use to ‘we’? Ultimately, it is mainly our association with dark Islamic groups that has tarnished the image of the headscarves.

The fictional part of the film, in which the young Alia tries to find her way around the headscarf ban without losing her own identity, is well thought out and brings a law to a concrete situation. Unfortunately, some dialogues seem very forced, especially the one with a clumsy colleague of Alia, who keeps asking her for help. Maryam Hassouni portrays the role of Alia well, light-hearted and weighty at the same time, as she can. Nasrdin Dchar plays the liberal Muslim, actually seems to portray himself – or at least, the image he has amassed in the Dutch media – a Muslim that also benefits the Dutch.

Despite slightly diminishing credibility, the final plot is unexpectedly funny. The emotion undeniably strikes, and the film has thus achieved its goal.