Zeeland knights (2010)

Directed by: Jacomien Kodde | 73 minutes | documentary

‘Zeeuwse Ridders’ is the celebrated (won audience award Film by the Sea 2010) documentary about the by many forgotten, but certainly not extinct tradition of the ring sign. The art lover may know this custom from a painting by Breughel or Hieronymus Bosch, but for those who don’t remember: at ring stings, riders on an unsaddled horse gallop (or trot – at least with a speed) with a lance towards a hanging ring. The intention is that the rider tries to put the lance into the ring. The ring pickers put out as many as thirty rings in a day and whoever has hit the most rings at the end of the day is the winner.

Much attention is paid to image and atmosphere in this documentary. The Zeeland landscape, the stone farms, the cyclists in the meadows and the riders who ride through the surf on diligent workhorses give the documentary a nostalgic character. The documentary makers also know how to highlight the village community feeling. For example, we witness the friendly atmosphere at a village meeting and we see how the ring pickers clean up the mess themselves after the events. Where is that still done? So in certain regions of Zeeland.

The documentary makers know how to get the right people in front of the camera, with the announcer who covers the events via the commentary speaker is perhaps the most striking figure. To give you an idea of ​​his floral and dramatic language: “It’s the crème de la crème and who am I to beat this for you. Really, it will give you goosebumps. And if there is a winner and there are tears involved, then this speaker can sometimes strike an emotional note. Because nothing human is foreign to me.”

The most important and most spoken people in the documentary are father Sander Willemse and his two sons Roel and Lou. The father is a former champion and would love to win the statuette of the queen a fifth time (that is the highest prize in the ring stitch). He himself will not succeed, but his sons are both very talented. Son Roel, however, has more eye for football and playing music at dance parties than for ring sign. He will only interfere sideways in the sport in the future. Unfortunate….

Although it is a well shot film, ‘Zeeland knights’ is not a documentary where you are blown away by the story told afterwards. The big problem is that the documentary doesn’t really have a point. The ring stitch, or ring riding as the Zeelanders call it, has actually become more popular in recent years and the tradition is not under pressure. And is it really that bad when Roel stops ring stitching or when father Willemse doesn’t win a fifth statue?