November 27th is the final deadline for Supermercator’s crowdfunding campaign on VoorDeKunst. For four years, the venue has provided a vital hub for art, film, philosophy, music and community events in Amsterdam-West. But with just over two weeks left to make its target of €18,000, we must all do our part to keep Mercatorplein’s cultural heart beating.
In the 10 years I have been working on film festivals, I can tell you that finding a venue willing to work with small promotions for a portion of the tickets – without agreeing a sizeable rental fee – is extremely rare. That puts a certain set of conditions on who can or can’t create a film festival, and subsequently places a limitation on the kinds of films which can access an audience.
Indy Film Library has been able to take risks on films which other festivals overlook. We have, to my regular surprise, premiered evocative, emotionally intelligent, socially important work at our events. These are wonderfully polished, professional independent movies which, for one reason or another, established festivals are simply unwilling to promote – and which I am so proud to have presented to audiences in Amsterdam. But that simply would not have been possible, without the support of two remarkable venues here. Initially, Filmhuis Cavia, and most recently, Supermercator.
Supermercator is a special project. It has offered Indy Film Library has found a welcome home-away-from-home, since we started screening films there in 2025. After the opportunity to host our Halloween Horror Showcase as a live event for the first time, Mercatorplein’s self-styled living room has also helped us extend our annual film festival to a two-day celebration, and welcomed our Experimental Showcase on a big screen too!
The importance of the venue’s crowdfunding campaign is clear to me, and should be clear to Indy Film Library’s filmmakers, audiences, and readers too. But Supermercator’s importance is much bigger than just us.
Independent expression, and the ability to speak truth to power have come under attack from Dutch governments before – and while there may be a brief moment of respite now, they may well come under attack again. Community spaces which foster alternative creativity, innovative art, and fresh ways of thinking are essential parts of a functioning democracy – it is our duty to support them as such. They give us crucial places to continue championing creatives asking important questions; and in darker times, they give us a place to seek refuge, foster hope, and find each other.
To continue to provide this vital space, Supermercator needs to be able to operate sustainably as a business. That means an ambitious transformation, to become a functioning café during the day-time, to finance its community cultural programme in the evenings.
“While we have all the heart, it also takes financial breath to run this place. Even the most idealistic living room needs to pay its bills,” explain the Supermercator team, in their VoorDeKunst campaign profile. “[We want to provide] a warm, bustling day-café serving breakfasts and seasonal lunches for every appetite and every pocket… The café will be the beating heart and the financial backbone of our cultural programme, allowing us to keep doing what we do without making culture or authentic expression a luxury.”
How can we help?
Supermercator cannot cook up this sustainable future without a kitchen. To make the plan happen, the venue will need to build a proper, professional kitchen. One that can feed the neighbourhood day by day and keep our little independent planet afloat for years to come.
They have the space, the team and the plan in place. What Supermercator needs now, is the funds to install the essential infrastructure from the ground up.
The €18,000 target that Supermercator is raising will go towards the following:
- a proper kitchen floor with drainage
- an extraction and ventilation system
- fridges and a freezer
- a dishwasher, induction hob and oven
- stainless steel worktables
- a coffee machine
- a dessert display counter
- a new bar with indoor seating
- a license to fully utilise its outdoor terrace
- new speakers, vinyl player, and projector
- tables, chairs, benches, shelves, pans, pots, plates, bowls, mugs
I’ve previously interviewed Judith, who is the brains behind Supermercator, about the importance of this space, and the maintenance of creative hubs as a democratic project. Now the writing is on the wall: if we don’t use it, we will lose it.
As noted in Supermercator’s crowdfunding profile, “If we don’t make our crowd funding goal, we will disappear. If you love what we do and want to keep us alive this is the moment to act!”
I am therefore using this opportunity to invite any and all of the Indy Film Library network to give what you can. I appreciate finances are tight for all of us, but every Euro counts now. If your film has been showcased to an audience at Supermercator, or if you have been in the audience, and have been introduced to the incredible worlds of IFL’s artists, we need you. Give what you can, and share the campaign far and wide.
For information on how to donate – and a list of rewards for donations, including art from local painters, and private dinners – visit the Supermercator appeal page on VoorDeKunst.
On November 22nd, Indy Film Library is also hosting a special movie quiz at Supermercator to help raise funds for the campaign. Sign up here.
