A Small Universe (The Dispatchables 1/5) | VPRO Documentary
31Somewhere in Amsterdam there is an extraordinary bike courier company. The amiable but disorganized Stanley manages this company and the motley crew of employees. Every courier has their own reasons for peddling around the city. And their own secret dreams.
No matter the weather and often the employees swarm around the city of Amsterdam, a city that is scarred by the increasing gap between the haves and have nots.
At their base camp the couriers sometimes give each other a hard time with harsh jokes and petty quarrels. Luckily, the local residents frequently drop in and interfere with matters, like upstairs neighbour Laura, whom Stanley is infatuated with. They are just like a family: it’s impossible to live with each other and they certainly cannot live without each other. And in the meantime they have a business to keep alive.
Every episode focuses on Stanley and one other courier. The series deals with topics like loneliness, inclusion, and social inequality.
Episode 1: A Small Universe
The busy month of December is just around the corner, but things are going far from smoothly. Stanley is worried about the solidarity and work attitude of the bike couriers and calls for a meeting that reveals many of the reasons causing tension. Luckily Stanley has Laura in his life, the upstairs neighbour and his muse, in his life to make things bearable. To ease the work pressure among the couriers Stanley places a vacancy.
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