Golden Film for The Storm

Dutch feature The Storm is making waves with local audiences and receives a Golden Film for over 100.000 tickets sold.
 
The Dutch feature film The Storm, directed by Ben Sombogaart, released by Universal Pictures International on September 17, has been seen by 240,000 people in just 11 days and is expected to continue its already impressive run having become a national event in The Netherlands.

The story of The Storm is set during the gravest natural disaster in modern Dutch history when the south western dykes succumbed to wind and water in 1953, resulting in the flooding of large parts of the provinces of Zeeland, Zuid-Holland and Noord Brabant, destroying entire villages and killing thousands. The Storm is the first ever feature film to deal with this national trauma.
In the film young mother Julia barely survives the flooding of her family’s farm but gets swept away from her baby by the currents. When she is saved by an army lieutenant, her rescuer and she return to the disaster area, counter to the massive evacuation, determined to find her child.

With over two-thirds of The Netherlands being below sea-level the film struck an existential nerve with the Dutch public: regular audiences and survivors of the actual disaster have flocked to cinemas. Newspapers and TV shows have reported of the film leading survivors of the disaster to talk about their horrific experiences for the first time, to their families and in public.

The Storm was directed by director Ben Sombogaart (2003 Academy Award nominee for Twin Sisters) and stars Sylvia Hoeks, Barry Atsma, Dirk Roofthooft, Monic Hendrickx, Katja Herbers and Lottie Hellingman.

The Storm is produced by NL Film & TV. Universal Pictures International handles Benelux distribution. The Storm is currently playing in 111 theatres in The Netherlands and will be released in Belgium this Wednesday September 30.

www.destormdefilm.nl
www.universalpictures.nl