White Flash
Director: Laura Hermanides
Cast:Renée Soutendijk, Raymond Thiry
Crew:Writers: Laura Hermanides, Roelof Jan Minneboo. Producer. Chris Stenger.
Email:info@familyaffairfilms.nl
Synopsis
This is the story of Aagje, Toon and their son Rick (42). Rick suffers from psychotic episodes, depression and severe headaches. We follow their journey in the last six weeks leading up to the death of Rick. A journey proving that letting someone so close to us go, is the most extreme expression of love.
Trailer
About the director
Laura Hermanides (1988) graduated in 2012 from the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam. She works mainly as a writer/director of her own films, focusing on documentary, fiction and video artwork, which she often (co)edits and composes music for. Laura regularly collaborates as a writer and/or cinematographer with fellow independent filmmakers.
Laura Hermanides is a winner of the Sundance Channel Award for her acclaimed and multi-awarded short film Nymphet. Laura’s debut feature film White Flash (2024) is the opening film of Utrecht’s Nederlands Film Festival.
After graduating as a documentary director at the Netherlands Film Academy in 2012, Laura decided to broaden her horizon by making documentary, fiction, experimental film and everything in between. Making the short films Prove me wrong, Nymphet and Amantea (all screened and awarded at multiple international filmfestivals) she developed an independent approach to filmmaking: creating an intimate workflow of a steady small crew with crossover departments. The recent short documentary MomMy is a very personal film in which Laura wrestles her mother, asking her mother how to deal with depression. The dance essay Anahit portrays the young female Imaani reliving the trauma of a sexual assault. Laura’s debut feature Witte Flits is based on the true story of the psychologically motivated euthanasia of Rick (42) and his parents, Aagje and Toon whom are given six weeks to let their son go in peace as the ultimate expression of their love. Witte Flits opened the Netherlands Film Festival September 2024, followed by outstanding reviews across the country and has just been released in Dutch cinemas. Laura is currently working as director and co-writer with Roelof Jan Minneboo on Awa, which has received development funding by the Netherlands Film Fund and will be shot in 2026 on Curaçao.
Filmmaker's note
White Flash is the story of Agnes, Jan and their son René. I met Agnes and Jan in 2013. Blown away by their story, I worked on a documentary on people going through something similar.
I couldn’t find a family as loving as theirs where trauma didn’t play a part in the death wish. I returned to Agnes five years ago - Jan passed away in 2015 - asking whether she was open to translate their story into a film. She hesitated, but René had asked her to fight for people like him. Finally she trusted me and we spent months going through all of Jan’s and René’s writings.
Letting go as the ultimate expression of love is the point where theory and practice meet. In Dutch law euthanasia is allowed as a form of mercy in extreme situations of psychological suffering. The story of loving parents letting go as the utmost sacrifice is an important document to add to the philosophical debate. I support the theory, but does it survive the complex reality? Are we capable of overcoming our own instincts of wanting to hold on?
During writing I already involved the actors, improvising scenes from the true story. I brought their input, their language, their movements, all back to the script. The actors met people of the real story, and we filmed in the actual house of Agnes, on which she insisted.
Euthanasia should be possible in extreme cases of suffering I believe. On the other hand, there is the complexity of letting go as an almost supernatural form of love. In White Flash the contradiction in this matter is explored; trying to accept the limits of what we can shape, and to appreciate what we are given as long as it lasts.
My friendship with Agnes reminds me of the necessity of appreciating life while it lasts. A film about her is a film about embracing life despite the extreme, impossible sacrifices it may demand.