Kids of the Bims

"KIDS OF THE BIMS is a documentary that celebrates Amsterdam’s most ethnically diverse neighbourhood De Bijlmemeer, aka the Bims. On the surface Amsterdam is seen as a liberal capital of the world. But in reality racism and inequality loom large. The Bims has often been an area that has been on the receiving end of these prejudices. And now it is fighting back through unbridled creativity. This film champions the global creative footprint this larger than life PoC community is creating through music, fashion and activism. A community re-writing what it means to be Dutch in the 2020s and representing an alternative European identity that is built on PoC cultures. Coming 2021." - Directors I AM HERE For this project, I was working as a researcher and producer for five months. I researched the history of the Bijlmer, spoke to a variety of experts and finally chose the cast that would represent different voices of the music scene in the Bijlmer. I conducted interviews and prepared the outline of the story for the directors, and arranged the entire production of the shoot. In October 2019, we premiered a first trailer of the project at the Melkweg during Amsterdam Dance Event. This event was hosted in collaboration with Boiler Room, and was meant to put the project on the map and draw attention to the situation in the Bijlmer. Starring Angelo Bromet, Surya Nahumury, Maru As Mellash, Mubarek Amartey aka Amartey, Bernard Lijte aka Berano, Bryan Oduro aka BKO, Eric (Jr.) Darkwah, Gary (Black) Oduro, Clayde Menso, Formatie Ondrofeni Director: I AM HERE c/o Maik Schuster & Max Paschke Production: Mrs. Frank Co-Production: Soursop Producer: Nadine Haselier Executive Producer: Miguel Teixeira Creative Producer: Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock Director Of Photography: Boas van Milligen Bielke Editor: Max Paschke Color: Ruben Labree Sound Design: Max Paschke Title Design: 27_bucks Musical Direction: Victor Brand Mastering: Julien Spetz