Netherlands Production Platform - Nederlands Film Festival

Sonny Boy
Shooting Star Filmcompany
Netherlands
Writer/director Maria Peters
Producer Hans Pos
42 • NPP 2008
Synopsis
Sonny Boy is the true love story of two ordinary
people: Dutch mother of four Rika; and
the much younger Waldemar from Surinam.
Their love is able to survive all the prejudices
and obstacles of the world around them, but
can’t survive the destructive power of war.
The true gripping story of Sonny Boy
starts in the year 1911. Rika, a Dutch girl,
marries William; it is a marriage that is
doomed to fail. Rika finally escapes with her
children and, just to make a living and with
the help of her brother Marcel, starts a pension
in The Hague.
Meanwhile, in Surinam, the young and
dreamy Waldemar, much younger than
Rika, is an excellent swimmer. His father
runs off with a new wife and his lonely mother
calls Waldemar ‘the ocean swimmer’,
which means that he’s supposed to go to
Holland to study.
On the day that Rika’s children move in
with her at the new pension, they meet a
man who’s looking for a room. He’s friendly,
young and sympathetic. However… he’s
black. It’s Waldemar. All his Surinam qualifications
were rejected and he has had to
start from the bottom up, so it’s not surprising
that he responds to Rika’s warmth. The
feeling is mutual.
A fragile, romantic relationship develops,
blessed by a baby boy, whom they call
‘Sonny Boy’ after a song in a film they both
saw. They have a hard time keeping everything
together but, when they open a new
pension in Scheveningen some years later,
everything seem to be on track. But it is May
1940, and German airplanes fill the skies…
They have to leave their pension and are
finally able to find another one, taking Sonny
Boy along. Then, they are forced to make
one of the toughest decisions in their life:
Kees Chardon, one of the leaders of the
Dutch resistance, asks them if they are ready
to hide some people from the Germans.
They decide to do so. But their life falls
apart again when they are betrayed and sent
to the camps, leaving Sonny Boy behind. He
stays in a hiding place in the country, dreaming
about the return of his parents….
Director’s statement
The film is a love story between two apparently
ordinary people: typical Dutch Rika,
mother of four children; and a coloured guy
from Surinam called Waldemar, who is 17
years younger.
But of course this wasn’t ordinary at all.
Rika would fit into this millennium easily
enough, but she was born more than a century
ago. She was a free spirit and allowed
no one to tell her what to do. She didn’t care
about moral conventions or petty neighbours.
Waldemar, too, was quite special. He
was loyal to Rika until she died, in spite of
the fact he was so much younger than her,
and became a father to their love child
Sonny Boy in an era when racism was normal,
and black men never mingled with
white women. Their love is stronger than all
moral and political forces - until the war
splits them apart.
The story is set between 1911 and 1945.
It’s a strong story - or, to use the words of
author Annejet van der Zijl, a “story that
wanted to be told”. The original novel (which
has been translated into many languages
and will be published in English by Faber &
Faber in 2009) moved thousands of readers
and the reviews were extraordinarily positive.
For a director, the challenge is the
same: the story needs to be filmed and I am
dedicated to transforming the book into a
film with real emotions, as befits this unusual
love affair.
Writer/director Maria Peters
Maria Peters graduated from the Dutch Film
Academy in 1983. In 1987, she formed
Shooting Star Filmcompany, along with
Hans Pos and Dave Schram.
Filmography as director
1995 De tasjesdief
1999 Kruimeltje
2002 Pietje Bell: De film
2003 Pietje Bell II: De jacht op de
tsarenkroon
2006 Afblijven