You Can't Sleep Here

2023 · 21 min · Documentary

Where do homeless people in Amsterdam find their night’s rest? This short documentary makes poignantly clear what it means to sleep outside as a social outcast. They populate car parks, mini-trailers and the spaces under fly-overs; the homeless people of Amsterdam, whose sleeping habits are spotlighted in this distressing documentary. Filmmaker Jelmer Wristers called on various outdoor sleepers, the camera in their faces, registering how they spend the night in their hiding places. From sleeping on a bench in open air to a 'luxury tent' where a buzzing fly interferes with sleep. And from the solitary loner hiding under boxes and crates to the group sleepers who set out together.

Directed by Jelmer Wristers