Thuis

To have a place of one's own is a prerequisite for human happiness. But this involves more than just having a roof over one's head. It is the creation of a home where people know themselves safe so that they can develop themselves. In a mildly ironic style Thuis demonstrates what the concept 'home' can mean to people. The film portrays a large number of people in their domestic surroundings during one summer in Amsterdam. The people portrayed belong to different categories, like elderly and young people, singles and families. In a drily observing, collage-like style the film registers these people's feelings about 'home' and invites them to tell about their fixed domestic habits and rituals. This proves how different people are from each other in their domestic behaviour, how varied they deal with the notion of living. Starting from the understanding that the non-spectacular is an essential part of life, Thuis offers a glimpse in the inconspicuous, day-to-day reality. The result is a continuous changing between the notions futile and essential: what seems futile is essential sometimes, what seems essential sometimes appears to be futile on closer consideration. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)