Van de Sande Bakhuyzen's first youth film tells the absurdist and adventurous story of nine-year-old Lepel (Joep Truijen), whose parents mysteriously disappeared during a balloon ride. Lepel now lives with a mean grandma (Loes Luca) who needs the boy for his flair for arithmetic: Lepel counts and sorts stolen buttons to supply grandmother's shop. His arithmetical talents are also useful to the schoolteacher, who wants to play Lepel as his trump at a mental arithmetic contest. Panic breaks out when one day the boy disappears in a department store. With grandma and the schoolmaster close on his heels, Lepel hides in the store with Pleun, a girl that lives behind a pile of sweaters in the men's wear department. A salesman who is secretly in love with the head of the department finds out that Lepel's parents may never come back and takes Pleun on a search for a new mother for Lepel. Inadvertently, the department head also gets involved in the plot. Lepel was shot in the almost absurdist decor of the East-German town of Gera. Awarded a Golden Film.
Credits
Director
Producer
Co-producer
Script
Camera
Production Design
Set geluid
Sound Design
Montage
Muziek
Gouden Kalf winner
Beste Production Design (2005)
Team Production Design Lepel
Gouden Kalf nominees
Other awards
Gouden Film (100.000 bezoekers speelfilm) (2005)
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