A Language as a Voice
Speaking your own language can be an act of resistance.
Why this image
A young person stands on a dark stage and sings, and from their mouth a ribbon of handwritten letters in an unfamiliar script rises and turns into a flock of birds. In 2024 the big winner at the International Film Festival Leiden was Kneecap, about a hip-hop trio from Belfast who rap in Irish: language as identity and as resistance 1. Not painted, but the same voice: on Leiden's facades poems stand in Berber, Basque, Frisian, Sranantongo and Muskogee, among many others 2, and the festival's Alexander Mouret Award goes to a film that dares to take a risk 3.
What it draws on · 3
wat het publiek koos
What the festival shows the city can be read from what wins. In 2024 the big winner was Kneecap: the story of a hip-hop trio from Belfast who rap in Irish, about language as identity and as resistance. In 2025 the audience award went to Cherien Dabis's 'All That's Left of You', following three generations of one Palestinian family from 1948 to the 2020s. These are not Dutch films, and the audience chose them itself.
Sources · 3
- Sleutelstad — 'Kneecap grote winnaar Leiden International Film Festival' (21 oktober 2024)
- Sleutelstad — 'Organisatie LIFF maakt winnende films bekend' (20 oktober 2025)
- Variety / Wikipedia — 'All That's Left of You' (Cherien Dabis, 2025); Wikipedia — 'Kneecap' (2024)
de talen op de muren
The poems are not in Dutch — or not only. On Leiden's facades stand Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Greek, Sanskrit, Urdu, Javanese, Buginese, Sarnami Hindustani, Sranantongo, Berber, Basque, Frisian and Muskogee, beside English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Swedish. That is the point of the project: the wall reads in the script of whoever reads it.
Sources · 2
- Nederlandstalige Wikipedia — Lijst van muurgedichten in Leiden: talen en schriften
- Muurgedichten Leiden — muurgedichten.nl
drie competities
The festival is built around three competitions: Independent (the American Indie Competition), Emerging (the First Feature Competition, for debut films) and Extraordinary (the Bonkers! Competition). Alongside them are the Youth Jury Award, the audience award, and the Alexander Mouret Award, named after the co-founder who was director for sixteen years until 2021 and received the city's Golden Pin of Merit when he stepped down. That prize goes to a film that dares to take a risk, is driven by genuine interest, and is free of pretension.
Sources · 2
- Leiden International Film Festival — liff.nl/about
- Sleutelstad — 'Gouden Speld voor vertrekkend LIFF-directeur Alexander Mouret' (28 oktober 2021)
Shares its places with · 5
Flowers on the FlatsPublic Art and Street Art
A Flower Named After a HatPublic Art and Street Art
A Wall in Your ScriptPublic Art and Street Art
Behind the FacadePublic Art and Street Art
Forever RenewedInternational Film Festival Leiden
Painted with an image model from the facts on this page, and chosen by hand. City in Motion.