Flemish Fields was shot in 1999-2000 in the surroundings of Aalst (BE). It is the 1st film out of a total of 5 that are part of the project European Fields - The Landscape of Lower League Football. Although this serie is shot at the football field, photographer Hans van der Meer pays more attention to landscape and human behaviour than football itself.
The 23 minute film Flemish Fields was made part of the exhibition European Fields, produced by Paradox (Edam, NL). Since the mid-1990s, frequently awarded Dutch photographer and film maker Hans van der Meer photographs lower league amateur football matches in The Netherlands. He was looking for football in its original form, as it had started more than hundred years ago (and is still played by many people): twenty-two men and a ball, hardly any spectators, perhaps a horse in the next meadow. The photographs of football matches on pitches at feet of mountains, factories or churches, in suburbs or at seasides provide not only a remarkable background for the beautiful game but give an image far, far away from the Champions League and show how much football is part of the European landscape and culture.