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PRODUCTION Netherlands

Sombogaart kicks up a Storm

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After the romantic epic Bride Flight [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Sombogaart
interview: Hanneke Niens
film profile
]
, which bowed last October and made over €2.5m at the Dutch box-office, Dutch director Ben Sombogaart is already in post-production on his next period epic, The Storm.

The film tells the story of a young farmer’s daughter in 1953 Zeeland, a then strictly religious southern province of the Netherlands. She has just had a baby out of wedlock when a violent storm and a high spring tide coalesce and break the dykes that shields Zeeland from the sea, flooding the entire province.

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The historical disaster left a profound mark on recent Dutch history, as more than 1,800 people drowned, more than 100,000 lost their homes and possessions and over 165,000 hectares of land were buried under salty water.

Sombogaart has stressed that it will not be a “disaster film,” as his €6.5m budget will not allow for too many special effects. Instead, he will focus on the human stories surrounding the disaster, including the story of the farmer’s daughter (Sylvia Hoeks) and the young air-force sergeant (Barry Atsma) who comes to rescue her.

The film, which was shot in northern Belgium late last year, is produced by Nijenhuis & de Levita Film & TV, and will be distributed by UIP Benelux in September.

Sombogaart’s latest project, an adaptation of the Surinam novel Queen of Paramaribo by Clark Accord, was also announced last week. IdtV Film will produce the adaptation and screenwriter Jacqueline Epskamp is currently working on the screenplay.

The novel is about a prostitute who works the streets to provide for several families in the Surinam capital. Though her own life is miserable, several of her charges end up as important members of the local government.

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