The New Wilderness

In the Netherlands, in the middle of one of the most densely populated regions of Europe, there is an area called the Oostvaardersplassen: a piece of land reclaimed from the sea and left to nature forty years ago. The documentary follows it through four seasons. Wild horses, deer, cattle and birds not seen in the Netherlands for centuries. Mark Verkerk's film was a large box office success in the Netherlands. But the experiment it describes is contested: because the animals are not interfered with, the population grows and in winter there is not enough food. In the winter of 2018 thousands of animals starved or were shot, and the country split over it. The film was made before all that, in 2013; what it shows is the beautiful face of leaving nature to itself.