THE POLITICS OF BELONGING AFTERTALK: WHOSE CITY, WHOSE HISTORY?

Who gets to shape a city? Whose stories are remembered, and whose are forgotten?

As part of Black Soil Film Festival 2026, we bring together film, augmented reality and conversation to explore the politics of belonging, cultural memory and the right to the city.

Through the screening of Oema Foe Sranan (1978) by At van Praag, we revisit the experiences of four Surinamese women navigating colonialism, independence, racism and emancipation. The film is accompanied by Strijd op 16mm (2022), a short documentary exploring the making, screening history and restoration of this important activist film.

We also present Lost Hood, an augmented reality project that brings Amsterdam’s squatting movement, counterculture and grassroots activism back into view, reconnecting the city’s streets with histories that risk being forgotten.

Bringing these projects into dialogue, The Politics of Belonging: Whose City, Whose History? asks who has the power to shape urban spaces, which histories are preserved and what happens when the communities that helped define a city’s cultural identity are gradually pushed out of sight.

Joining the conversation are Kiki Ho, one of the makers of Strijd op 16mm, and Abner Preis, creator of Lost Hood.

An exploration of identity, representation, urban transformation and collective memory — connecting the struggles of the past with the realities of the present.