''Secrets of War'' ( nl, Oorlogsgeheimen) is a 2014

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

drama film by director

Dennis Bots Dennis Bots (born 11 June 1974) is a Zambian-Dutch film director. Biography Dennis Bots was born in the Zambian city of Kitwe in 1974. His Dutch parents lived in Zambia, where his father was employed. As an infant, he moved to the Dutch town of ...

. The story is based on the 2007 novel ''Oorlogsgeheimen'' by

Jacques Vriens Jacques Vriens (born 26 March 1946) is a Dutch children's author and playwright. He is known for his 1999 book ''Achtste-groepers huilen niet'', which was twice adapted into a film. Vriens formerly worked as a schoolteacher and has written for th ...

. The leading roles are played by Pippa Allen, Maas Bronkhuyzen, and Joes Brauers. The story is set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film won the Rembrandt award for best Dutch youth film of 2015. In the same year, the film won the prize for best feature film at the

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

Children's Film Festival in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In July 2015, the audience of the Stony Brook Film Festival in New York awarded "Best Picture" to ''Secrets of War''.

Plot

In a small village in Holland in 1943, the German occupation and the war penetrate deeper and deeper into the lives of the children. The two twelve-year-old boys Lambert and Tuur are best friends, although Lambert's father sympathizes with the Germans and Tuur's family with the resistance. At first the boys don't tell anyone about the hiding place of a downed Allied pilot in a tunnel system that they found together. However, after Tuur discovers that families from the neighborhood are being deported in freight cars, he becomes radicalized. He finally understands that his parents and older brother are active in the resistance against the Germans. In Lambert, whose father has meanwhile been appointed mayor by the Germans, he begins to see a traitor. When Tuur flirts with his new classmate Maartje and turns his back on Lambert, Lambert reveals that Maartje's host family is hiding a pig from the occupiers. Little does he know that he is putting the lives of Maartje –- whose real name is Tamar and is Jewish –- and her host family in danger. When Tuur follows the arrested Tamar to

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

and is arrested himself, Lambert promises his father that he will join the Nazi youth if he gets Tuur out of prison. Shortly after Tuur's release, Maartje's host father, under torture, betrays the other members of the resistance. Although the entire village is surrounded by German soldiers, Tuur and his family are able to flee to Belgium via the tunnels. Lambert supports them in this by bringing them food and other supplies. The fate of Tamar and the other villagers remains unknown.

Cast

Awards

The film won: 2015 Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) Audience Award, 2014 Castellinaria International Festival of Young Cinema's Golden Castle Best Film, 2014 Chicago International Children's Film Festival Adult's Jury Award in the live-action feature category, and the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the 2015 Stony Brook Film Festival.

References

External links

* * Dutch drama films 2014 films 2010s Dutch-language films Dutch World War II films {{Netherlands-film-stub