Dreams, Fear, Passion, Love and a 'Fokking' Golden Calf
Last week the Gala of the Golden Calf took place in the Netherlands. This is the Dutch equivalent for the Oscar Night with awards for best films, actors and so on. One of the movies nominated was Rabat, a roadmovie about three friends who have to bring a taxi to Rabat, Morocco. First Nadir (Nasrdin Dchar) wants to go on his own but his friends Abdel (Achmed Akkabi) and Zakaria (Marwan Kenzari) invite themselves (as good friends do of course). During their travel through Holland, Belgium, France, Spain and Morocco they fall in love, get arrested and abused by the police, rejected into a club because they are foreigners. Their friendship gets a blow when it is discovered that Nadir has kept a secret from his two mates for life. Looks like an ordinary roadmovie as we have seen before, and to a certain extend it is. But it is a very good one, in particular showing the evolution of friendship.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzzxcv5aSHA](Watch the trailer with English subtitles HERE)
Nasrdin Dchar won the Golden Calf for best leading actor and delivered a strong speech in which he told the youth in the Netherlands to keep dreaming and live life to the max. He referred to a recent statement made by Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs who stated according to him (it was a little more nuanced) that it is understandable that people are afraid of foreigners. Dchar also testified his passion and his love for several people including his parents who were clearly touched. See his speech here (apologies for the poor English subtitles, but they to capture what he said):
His speech evoked many reactions; some applauding him for his stance others criticizing him for bringing politics into this evening and others who stated that this was incitement to hatred. And again for others he was the representation of the Dutch multicultural generation and the other Netherlands, an answer to Geert Wilders and minister Verhagen.
Note: ‘Fokking’ is Dutch slang for the F-word