When old Nico passes away, his chip shop is inherited by his three sons Nico jr., Martin and Paul. It is up to them to keep the shop running. This proves quite a task, because it isn't easy to fry good quality chips. Not every potato is worthy of a place in Nico’s chip shop. It all starts with the painstaking selection of the perfect potato. The next step is manual preparation: peel it, take out the seeds, and carefully maneuver it through the potato chipper. Chop!  The chips eventually dance to their swan song in the gurgling frying fat (captured in extraordinary beautiful images), before they are devoured and enjoyed.

In De Aardappeleters, the process of frying chips is elevated to high culture; from the search for the most suitable potato and nostalgia for the much more savory animal frying fat of the old days to a careful deliberation on the perfect level of the mayonnaise’s sourness.

Above all, De Aardappeleters depicts the Holland of the 1950s and the 60s. The chips shop became a central meeting point for the locals. From working class types to the occasional yuppie; everybody drops by, digs in and enjoys Nico’s chips. Among them are famous regulars like Golden Earring’s bass player Rinus Gerritse and author Tomas Lieske. In De Aardappeleters they reminisce about Nico’s chips shop and their childhood neighbourhood. De Aardappeleters is a documentary in which generations, memories and an atmosphere of brotherhood converge to the hissing sound of the most perfect potatoes (bintjes) in frying fat.

However, they are not the only ones to praise the Gillisse brothers’ cooking skills. In The Hague and beyond, the chip shop has become a true phenomenon. There is a good reason why Nico’s  chips, always fried in healthy vegetable-based frying fat, have become Holland’s most healthy and acclaimed pommes frites, as voted by the Dutch Consumers’ Association.   

Chips aren’t the only dish you can make with potatoes. In the workshop Aardappeleters (‘Potato Eaters’) you will learn all about the Dutch spud from an entirely different angle. Did you ever hear of the Nicola, Irene or Ratte Potato?

NOTE: only during the screening on March 17 the Gillisse family will be present in order to host a Q&A session!

Friday 16 March 17:15 - 18:10 Studio/K SK/1



Saturday 17 March 17:00 - 17:55 Studio/K SK/1