Go to content
Adaptation of Annejet van der Zijl’s novel about the controversial romance that bloomed in the 1920s between a student from Suriname and a white, divorced mother.

Waldemar, a young man from Suriname, travels to Holland in the 1920s to study. Here, he falls in love with his landlady Rika. They couldn’t be greater opposites: he is young and black, she is seventeen years his senior, white and a divorced mother of four. Their relationship is openly denounced by their surroundings, but love and their mutual son keep them going during the depression era. But then World War II erupts and the unusual couple, risking their lives, decides to offer a hiding place to a group of Jews.
This true story of two ‘ordinary’, anonymous people was recorded by journalist Annejet van der Zijl in her bestselling Sonny Boy (2004). Maria Peters was responsible for the direction. An ambitious film project, featuring a series of extraordinary locations; from pre-war Paramaribo to the Netherlands in the Depression and WW II concentration camps.

Title: Sonny Boy
Year: 2010
Duration : 2 hours, 12 minutes
Category: Feature film
Edition: NFF 2011

Gouden Kalf nominees

Beste Actrice (2011)
Ricky Koole
Beste Camera (2011)
Walther Vanden Ende
Beste Muziek (2011)
Henny Vrienten

Other awards

Gouden Film (100.000 bezoekers speelfilm) (2011)

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Bekijk trailer

Stills

Still
Still
Still
Still
Still