Debt Society

In a working-class neighborhood in North Amsterdam, almost everyone is deeply in debt. Every month a parade of heavies, a bailiff, a police officer and a locksmith moves through the streets to evict people from their homes. While the locals struggle with fines, guilt and shame, bailiffs and social workers face locked doors. At city hall, a councilman designates the debt problem as the spearhead of his policy. Meanwhile, the unpaid bills keep piling up. In this series, we get to know them all: the residents, social workers, creditors, the bailiff and the local politician – inextricably linked to each other. In the first episode we meet Paul, the unorthodox social worker who works day and night. Unfortunately, all help comes too late for Ramona and her family, because when they are thrown out of their house in broad daylight by Ed, the bailiff, there is no one to turn to. What is special about this factual, non-scripted format, is that it was created with the help of a fiction screenwriter. At first it was difficult to get the show to work, and getting the screenwriter on board really helped to create the right storylines, plot twists, poetic voice-over and soulful score to reach a large audience.