Nieuwe gronden

Another Ivens short documentary that, like my preceding viewing of RAIN (1929), has in common its theme (in this case, the sea) and its source (the "Wonders In The Dark" poll). As far as I know, this has not been officially issued anywhere on home video – so I caught up with it on "You Tube" which, quite surprisingly I must say, has become a veritable treasure trove of offbeat cinema and music-related viewing material!

Set during the worldwide Great Depression of the 1930s, this deals with the willful desiccation of a river- bed to make way for farming land. Apart from the fact that, had God intended this particular stretch of land to be farmed, He would not have put a river there in the first place, what follows is even more head-scratching: while jobless Dutch workers are appositely engaged for this venture, U.S. capitalist leaders are forcing American farmers to destroy their produce because this new influx has tipped the economical balance in favour of supply over demand! Meanwhile, millions of unemployed U.S. workers march in protest over the local farms which have been left unattended to rot for the same reason!