Nevejan was filming ‘couscous & cola #2’ in Africa. The kids went to Morocco and Ghana to look for there roots and discovered they are more Dutch then they thought….

8 x 25 minutes
Producer: IDTV
Broadcast by: BNN
start: 15 march 2007
channel: Nederland 3/BNN

For our understanding

In the first series, the trip to the US provided the handle to develop a narrative and keep the kids motivated, like wise this time it will be a trip to Africa.
One could say that the kids were Cous Cous when they went to Cola (Netherlands and the ultimate America) in doing so became Cola and are now back to Couscous. In the making of Couscous we had, initially, not even realized that all of the kids that ended up going to the States in fact came from Africa. For them however it was important. ” All of us are from Africa. The Western world stripped us of every single thing. Now we are in the West and we want to take something back” , thus Omar from Somalie during his stay in New York. For Many kids in Africa the Western world is a dream. Once they are here, criticism grows to the extent that there are some who actually reject our society. In part one of the series we wanted to confront the kids with The U.S, the country they hate, but it is also the country where urban youth culture is rooted. Like wise, in part two, they will be confronted with Africa the continent they come from and left behind because of its lacking and that they are now in turn, idealising. In Africa they will show us the matters that they think we should see to better our understanding.

Short story in ENGLISH

In the first series, the trip to the US provided the handle to develop a narrative and keep the kids motivated, like wise this time it will be a trip to Africa.
One could say that the kids were Cous Cous when they went to Cola ( Netherlands and the ultimate America) in doing so became Cola and are now back to Couscous. In the making of Couscous we had, initially, not even realized that all of the kids that ended up going to the States in fact came from Africa. For them however it was important. ” All of us are from Africa. The Western world stripped us of every single thing. Now we are in the West and we want to take something back” , thus Omar from Somalie during his stay in New York. For Many kids in Africa the Western world is a dream. Once they are here, criticism grows to the extent that there are some who actually reject our society. In part one of the series we wanted to confront the kids with The U.S, the country they hate, but it is also the country where urban youth culture is rooted. Like wise, in part two, they will be confronted with Africa the continent they come from and left behind because of its lacking and that they are now in turn, idealising. In Africa they will show us the matters that they think we should see to better our understanding.

Short story in Dutch

Zoals de reis naar Amerika vorige keer de “trigger” was om een dramatische lijn te ontwikkelen en tegelijk de kids gemotiveerd te houden zo zal dat deze keer Afrika zijn. Je zou kunnen zeggen dat de kids Couscous waren toen ze naar Cola gingen (Nederland en ultimate Amerika) daardoor zelf Cola werden en nu weer terug gaan naar Couscous.Bij het maken van Couscous was ons in eerste instantie niet eens opgevallen dat alle kids die uiteindelijk zijn meegegaan naar Amerika uit Afrika kwamen. Voor hen was het echter belangrijk.” Wij komen allemaal uit Afrika. De Westerse wereld heeft alles, maar dan ook alles van ons afgenomen. Nu zijn we in het Westen en willen we iets terugpakken”, aldus Omar uit Somalië tijdens zijn verblijf in New York. Voor heel veel kids in Afrika is het Westen de droom. Maar eenmaal hier, groeit de kritiek, en er is zelfs een groeiende groep die zich helemaal afkeert van onze maatschappij. Zoals we de Couscouskids in deel één wilden confronteren met Amerika, het land dat ze haten, maar waar ook heel de jongerencultuur vandaan komt, zo willen we hen in deel twee confronteren met Afrika, continent waar ze vandaan komen, wat ze achter zich hebben gelaten omdat het niet goed genoeg was, maar wat ze op hun beurt nu weer aan het idealiseren zijn. Ze gaan ons in Afrika die zaken tonen waarvan zij het nodig vinden dat wij dat zien, opdat we hen beter kunnen begrijpen.

Couscous & cola #2: Africa now nominated for an Emmy award.

Spring 2007 Dutch TV broadcasted couscous & cola #2. Order the DVD couscous & cola in Africa now.

Articles in Dutch
‘Op naar Ghana‘ (pdf file 400 KB) VARA TV Magazine #10 2007
‘Meer cola dan couscous‘ (pdf file 1 MB) Het Parool [march 2007]

6 of the couscous & cola kids with Patrick Lodiers and minister Rita Verdonk