De Tweeling

The Netherlands

Synopsis

Twin sisters, Lotte and Anna, long to reunite after being cruelly separated as children before the war. While Lotte is brought up rich and educated in neutral Holland, the other grows up poor in a Germany increasingly in the grip of Hitler's fascism.
It is not until they are adults that they manage to find each other again, but with the war now on the way, they discover some uncomfortable differences between them that become harder and harder to ignore.
At first they overlook these differences, but when Lotte tragically loses her Jewish fiance in a concentration camp, and then discovers her own sister's husband was a member of the SS, it seems that their lives will never again be reconciled. Can forgiveness ever be possible now?

Director's Biography

BEN SOMBOGAART was born in 1947 in Amsterdam. Graduate of the Netherlands Film and
Television Academy '73. Working as a free-lance director, Sombogaart has made many documentary films both in Holland and abroad. He originated and directed several TV-drama series and feature-films. He has also been involved in developing the children’s programming for VPRO TV and for Bos Bros Film- Tv Productions/AVRO TV.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Ben Sombogaart

Written by: Tessa De Loo, Marieke van der Pol

Produced by: Hanneke Niens, Anton Smit

Cinematography: Piotr Kukla

Editing: Herman P. Koerts

Production Design: Michel De Graaf

Costume Design: Linda Bogers

Make-Up & Hair: Winnie Gallis

Original Score: Fons Merkies

Sound Design: Peter Flamman

Cast: Hans Somers (Bram), Ellen Vogel (Lotte (grand old lady)), Gudrun Okras (Anna (grand old lady)), Julia Koopmans (Lotte (around 6 years)), Nadja Uhl (Anna (around 20 years)), Sina Richardt (Anna (around 6 years)), Betty Schuurman (Henriette Rockanje ), Jaap Spijkers (Ferdinand Rockanje ), Thekla Reuten (Lotte (around 20 years)), Jeroen Spitzenberger (David de Vries)

Nominations and Awards

  • Feature Film Selection 2003