This two hour web version of Fietsstraat Amsterdam starts just before morning rush hour. The film is best seen in high definition on a large screen. A free 4K version of the full seven hour film is available for showings. After its premiere, I will post the full version here.
Unfolding without narration over seven hours, Fietsstraat Amsterdam documents the daily flow of bikes, cars, and pedestrians as they negotiate the shared space of one of Amsterdam’s streets. It offers both a calm viewing experience and an unfiltered look at ordinary rhythms, fleeting encounters, and the negotiations that characterize a contested public space.
Viewers experience how a city trying to prioritize bicycles feels, how people exert their rights to a public space, and how a particular form of understanding comes from the art of sustained attention. Sometimes the ethnographer’s task is not to conclude but to accompany, lingering on the street and inviting viewers to do the same.