Moeder Suriname - Mama Sranan

Moeder Suriname

From the moment Fansi is given away by her mother and grows up as a nursery, rather a house slave, in an emptying village between the former plantations in the west of Suriname. Fansi feels like an outsider in the large family. She has children at a young age, but their father leaves her when he leaves the village in search of work. Lonely and abandoned, she decides to move to Paramaribo to seek happiness and build a future for her and her children. She ends up in one of the busy backyards, where she holds her own in the colonial city. As a single mother, Fansi does everything she can to offer her nine children a better life, even if this means asking her sons and daughters to leave her behind when they leave for the Netherlands for better opportunities. Only her eldest son decides to stay. When she is old, Fansi chooses to also go to the Netherlands. In a retirement home, a few years before her death, she finally finds peace and acceptance of her lot in life. Fansi's life takes place against the backdrop of Suriname, a country that is breaking free from slavery and opting for independence.

After the film, there is a short explanation from Ramon Coelho about the restoration process of colouring the images.

About the director

Tessa Leuwsha was born in Amsterdam and has an Afro-Surinamese father and a Dutch mother. Her father grew up in Suriname when the country was still a colony of the Netherlands, he emigrated to the Netherlands for economic reasons, where he worked as a driver for the municipality of Amsterdam. Leuwsha's mother worked at a bank and passed on her love of literature to her daughter.

Plein Theater month for Keti Koti

The Keti Koti month takes place annually in the month of June in the run-up to Keti Koti on July 1. This month is all about remembering and reflecting on the slavery past of the Netherlands and its consequences today.

As Plein Theater in Amsterdam Oost, is located next to the Oosterpark and the National Monument to the History of Slavery, we pay special attention to this moment and this month. That is why we organize various activities in June on topics that touch on the history of slavery and colonialism, curated by Peggy Burke and Berith Danse.