‘Een Gezonde Verslaving’ – i.e. ‘A Healthy Addiction’ – depicts three (professional) birders – Arjan Dwarshuis, Jesse Zwart and Lars Buckx. Jesse and Lars own ‘Dagje in de Natuur’, a company that organises various excursions throughout the Netherlands, including excursions for novice birders. Arjan is one of the guides of ‘Dagje in de Natuur’ and a world-champion birder. This film shows how these three professional birders perceive, conceive and value Dutch socio-ecological systems by offering how they see and listen sensorially. Two critical concepts at the heart of this film are skilled vision and listening, meaning that somebody can train senses such as seeing and listening, due to which some people hear or see different things than others despite listening or looking at the same thing. In addition, this film shows how these three birders look at sustainability issues in the Netherlands, such as the surplus of fallow deer at the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen. The film touches upon topics like the nature-culture dichotomy, pro-environmental behaviour, and embodiment. The filmmaker, Emma van der Plas, followed Arjan, Jesse, and Lars for three months during their birding trips and excursions.
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bio
I have always been interested in other people, what others do in their daily lives, how they do it, and how their daily activities shape their view of the world. This interest eventually led me to study Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology. My greatest passions are reading, writing, photography, hiking, and climbing. When I walk somewhere, I can almost always be found with a camera around my neck, and while photographing and filming, it feels like the world stands still. I eventually combined my passion for photography and film with my interest in people. My love and passion for the outdoors and nature are also often reflected in my work within anthropology.