Green Paradise

Amsterdam has many school gardens. Here, city children learn to cultivate vegetables and grow flowers as part of the school curriculum, providing them with insight into nature and life in general. follows gardening teacher Bert Ydema in Amsterdam's Westerpark neighbourhood during the last year before his retirement. From January until the fall, Ydema teaches children how to plant, weed and harvest. In almost 40 years, he has taught some 20,000 schoolchildren, ones whose backgrounds rarely bring them into contact with Mother Earth. Patience and humour make Ydema a popular teacher, who above all lets children experience how taking responsibility can lead to wonderful results. Director Roel van Dalen portrays this man with tenderness and precision. The teacher's personal comments frame the footage of his lessons and show how the cycles of nature also play a role in his personal life. is not only a tribute to a passionate gardener and teacher, but also a plea for "green" education in urbanised Holland.