Documentary Rotterdam Rave Culture
“30 Years Or Heritage”
Commissioned by Open Rotterdam
Directed by Dennis van Rijswijk
Produced by Holly Dicker
Synopsis
A community. A youth movement. A way of life. Rave is much more than a night out.
Rotterdam made its mark on the world in the 90s with its hardcore rave culture and hardlined
approach to partying. Three decades later, Rotterdam is still raving – but the cityscape, the
record industry, and the way we interact as a society have all changed dramatically. This is a
story of individuals coming together on the dancefloor and losing themselves in the strobe
light, and a city that finds its strength in the battle, and will make it happen – no matter what.
Director Statement
Rotterdam has a rich rave history that has been suppressed or misrepresented for far too
long. With this documentary we have taken a raver's route through three generations of
Rotterdam nightlife, from the 90s and 00s boom to the post-pandemic present. Filmed from
as many surviving dancefloors as possible over Winter 2022, as well as the homes, studios,
and various vinyl institutions of Rotterdam, this film is for Rotterdammers, by
Rotterdammers, and Ravers Worldwide.
Director Biography
Sound designer, filmmaker and hardcore raver Dennis van Rijswijk was born and raised in
Rotterdam during the 90s gabber boom. He has been making music since the age of 12,
sneaking into his first PRSPCT parties at the Maassilo a few years later. He's been hooked
on Rotterdam rave culture ever since, performing and producing early hardcore music as
Reeza as part of 90s-inspired rave collective Madness-Industry. In 2022 the multimedia
project Holy Ravers was born as a platform for rave heritage – past and present – facilitated
through unique design, dance, film and music commissions, coming together as a Rotterdam
event series, Turbulence. After completing studies in sound design at the Grafisch Lyceum
Rotterdam, Dennis has worked as a professional sound engineer across a broad range of
commercial and artistic projects with his company, PhaseFactory, including sound design for
feature films like "Witte Wieven" (2024) and documentaries like "De Nieuwe Gabber" (2022)
by VICE. Rotterdam Rave Culture "30 Years of Heritage" (2025) is his directorial debut.
Director Filmography
Opa Cor (2024) - Sound
Witte Wieven (2024) - sound designer
De Nieuwe Gabber" (2022) - sound engineer
Under Water (2022) - sound
Exhibit #8 (2022) - sound editor and recordist
Producer Biography
https://hollydicker.wordpress.com/
Holly Dicker is a club culture journalist, independent radio broadcaster and author of Dance
or Die: A History of Hardcore (2025) for Velocity Press. She has bylines in The Wire, The
Guardian, Mixmag, Electronic Beats, DJ Mag and Resident Advisor, where she was a staff
writer from 2015 to 2019. Holly has presented various conference panels and documentaries
– including Amsterdam Dance Event in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. She has written long
form pieces on historic techno and rave institutions such as Tresor and Thunderdome, and is
an authority on Dutch gabber subculture as curator of the multimedia exhibition “A Brief
History of Gabber” for Google Arts & Culture. Holly studied Interactive Arts in Manchester,
joined the music industry in Berlin working for Boiler Room, Stattbad nightclub, Tresor
Records and Electric Deluxe with Speedy J. She has lived in Rotterdam since 2015.
Credits
Director: Dennis van Rijswijk
Camera and Edit: Dennis van Rijswijk
Colour Grading and Edit: Thiemo van Dam
Production: Holly Dicker
Sound Composition: Dennis van Rijswijk
Music: "Roffadamn Jungle" by Deformer and Mike Redman, "Transistor" by Rotor Militia
Featuring: Dennis Copier (DJ Panic), Gareth de Wijk (PRSPCT), George Ruseler (Rige
Entertainment), Leonie Neervoort, Marco Grijsen (Triple Vision), Mike Redman, Natasha
Stevie, Stefan Zetemka and Thys Boer (N8W8)
Archive material: Mike Redman, Rige Entertainment, RTV Rijnmond, Stefan Zetemka
With thanks to: Alina Berezovskaia, Bakelite, Celeste Boddaert, Cynthia Spiering,
Demonfuzz Records, Gemeente Rotterdam, George Ruseler, Maassilo, Mechanism,
Megarave, Michel van der Padt, Mike Redman, Now&Wow, Open Rotterdam, Poing (the bar
formerly known as), PRSPCT, Stefan Gabalin, Stefan ZMK & Li-Z HnR, Thanos Hana,
Thiemo van Dam, Triple Vision and Worm
Links
https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2025/films/rotterdam-rave-culture-30-years-of-heritage
Written by Holly Dicker