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A Last Resort (2003)

The island of Terschelling, situated off the northern coast of the Netherlands, has 4700 inhabitants and every year attracts about 400,000 tourists.

The economy of the island does not have much more to offer the islanders than the income from tourism. There are five farms left on the island. But there are also three large hotels, four estates of holiday homes, 15 campsites and more than 400 houses rented to tourists all year round. Several former farmers now live off the small campsite in their back garden. The closed island community seems to be selling off its authenticity.

Instead of cows, the islanders now milk tourists. The consequences of this are increasingly apparent. While many people from the mainland have a house on the island of Terschelling, the housing shortage for islanders is getting more intense. How do the island inhabitants feel as they earn their living from tourists but are kept awake every night by drunken young revellers? Yet a hotel owner says that the young tourists are the future so you should invest in them.
Who's running the island, the tourists or the locals?

A co-production between Selfmade Films and NCRV. The scenario was developed during the IDFA scenarioworkshop 2001. This film was made with support from the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund.

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