Kinderen van de Hondsberg in 2011

In 1998, documentary filmmaker Van Dalen followed a group of children in De Hondsberg, an institution for mentally challenged children who often have developmental disorders and behavioural disturbances, too. In 2011, he revisits six adult ex-residents. Despite many initial problems, some of them managed to build up autonomous lives, while others still need help. Parents, nurses and therapists also describe their experiences. The prospects of the unmanageable Boyce were not very rosy in 1998. But he independently built a new life for himself. Looking back on his childhood, Boyce claims he would handle things completely differently: ‘If I had kids, I’d manage ten times better, I’d give them so much love.’ Van Dalen interviews six ex-residents about their life and crosscuts the images with footage from 1998. Are they leading the lives they fantasised so vividly about at De Hondsberg?