Artist
Aitana López Rodrigo

Title
Ik wou dat het afwas

Budget CBK Rotterdam
€ 7.500,00

Year of award
2025

Request type
I&V subsidy

In a Rotterdam hotel, two women from Thailand and Spain clean rooms and wash dishes for minimum wage. Using phones and digital cameras, they document their daily work: a forgotten pair of pants, a conversation with a boss, the arrival of a cruise ship. With her debut feature film, "I Wish It Were Dishes," Aitana López Rodrigo offers an intimate yet ironic reflection on invisible labor, tourism, and the value of time. Who can and may travel? Who is left behind to clean up? The project stems from López Rodrigo's desire to critically examine the precarious working conditions in the Dutch tourism sector. The documentary material is primarily recorded with mobile phones and audio recorders, reflecting the precarious work environment. By contrast, the fictional and speculative film scenes are constructed from the polished visual language familiar from advertising, pop culture, and social media.