THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The Idiots are a bunch of middle-class malcontents who decide to provoke the community around them by publicly masquerading as people with mental disabilities; ‘spassing’, as they call it.  Under the leadership of Stoffer (Jens Albinus), they function not unlike the Maoist cell of Godard’s La Chinoise, making guerrilla sorties from base-camp, retreating in orderly fashion for stern sessions of self-criticism.  What sorts of people do they seek to antagonize?  Stiff-necked waiters in piss-elegant restaurants, shysters from the local council who offer financial incentives to move these ‘retards’ on; parvenu home-buyers who feign ‘concern’ but want no such nonsense in their backyard.  

Kelly/Dogme, 2000