CinemOCCII: Hotel Mokum

CinemOCCII Presents:

Hotel Mokum (Yannesh Meijman – 30min – 2023)
Pak Mokum Terug is the name of a group of Amsterdam activists that refuse to accept that the basic right to housing no longer appears to apply. The group’s name means “Take Back Amsterdam,” Mokum being the traditional nickname for a capital city in which today, for more and more people, a home is becoming unaffordable. Against this background, Hotel Mokum reports on the squatting of a dilapidated hotel in the city center, narrated in the voice of a fictitious activist.

We follow the events through mobile phone, archive and fictional footage. The squatters turn the derelict hotel into a vibrant living and working community, creating not only living spaces, but also studios and places for meetings and neighborhood parties. To mark their first month in the building, they hold a cheerful celebration. But less than two weeks later, their hopes are dashed when a judge orders their eviction, and the riot police arrive to throw them out.

The struggle continues, however, as we see at the end of the film, when another building is squatted. “You can evict us from a building,” says the narrator defiantly, “but you’ll never evict our ideals.

The film is in Dutch, but will be screened with English subtitles.

After the film, Spookstad, an experimental publishing platform focused on the discussion and facilitation of radical political action and the publishers of Mokum Kraakt’s 2023 book “Pak Mokum Terug: Woonstrijd in een krakende stad” will give a talk about their work;

For Spookstad, art and publishing are not only ways to communicate our ideas, but also direct manifestations of collective creation and political resistance. We don’t squat just for the sake of de-privatising a building as an end goal. What matters is what we make out of it: using the reclaimed space to breed alternatives. How can we turn it into a playground for experimentation, resisting the dominant capitalist logic, imagining better futures, and building communities?

After Spookstad’s talk there will be a Kraakspreekuur Lite (squatting consultation hour): two desks with people to whom you can ask questions about squatting in your search for a (vacant) property. For this part of the evening, attendance is FREE (in case you only want to come for the squatting assistance hour).

Limited seating, so please buy your tickets on time!
There will be the opportunity to buy the book “Pak Mokum Terug: Woonstrijd in een krakende stad”, zines and posters!

Program
Wednesday, April 17th, 2024
Doors open: 19:30 (please come on time)
Film screening: 20:00 – 20:40
Spookstad 20:40 – 21:40
Kraakspreekuur Lite: 21:40 – end

Damage: 5 euro
feel free to bring extra cash for donations!

There will be free popcorn!