Village in the City
Original title Lutherhof – Dorp in de Stad
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‘Village in the City’ gives an impression of life inside The Lutherhof in Amsterdam. This court of almshouses has offered protected housing for over a 100 years. It used to be a diaconal institution for old, destitute Evangelical-Lutheran women. Today, singles of all ages live in The Lutherhof: women and men, Lutheran and non-Lutheran. However, the diaconal principles – paying attention to and helping each other out – still apply here. Everyone has their own front door, but there is, nevertheless, a sense of community in The Lutherhof; something very special in the middle of a more and more hectic, anonymous and individualistic Amsterdam. We see how The Lutherhof functions like a microcosm of society in general, with its own rules and values.
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Author/s Sharis Coppens
Sharis Coppens (1977, The Netherlands) studied Visual Anthropology in Leiden and at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology (GCVA) in Manchester. Her field of interest is Latin America, social borders, music and identity. Sharis has been making documentaries in Latin America and The Netherlands since 2003 and worked as a researcher/producer for various television and documentary producers. In 2011 she founded her own production company Chicha Films. In Village in the City she portrays live within The Lutherhof, a court of almshouses where she lived for 3,5 years. In 2012 she also produced ‘Mary in Times of Crisis’ about the pilgrimage shrine of the Virgin of Urkupina in Bolivia.
Research Sharis Coppens
Photography Sharis Coppens & David Lingerak
Sound Sharis Coppens & David Lingerak
Editing Jan Wouter van Reijen