Kotvis feels closely related to his great-uncle Olckers, whom he miraculously never knew. “I knew about an uncle who worked for Shell in the Dutch East Indies and sometimes took Indonesian things with him when he came to the Netherlands. But that was it. No memories, because I never knew him.”
Indian trauma experts
Yet deep inside there was a bond, which only became clear after the death of Kotvis’ father. “I felt that there was something I still wanted to discuss with my father. Then I contacted a trauma expert. That was an Indian lady who knew that there was nothing more to discuss with my father, but that it was feeling that tormented me was much deeper. It had to do with the great-uncle. What had happened to him was never discussed in the family, but it caused a lot of sadness. That family sadness skipped generations and came to me.”
What is a war trauma for many when it comes to the Burma railway, has become a family trauma for the relatives of Olckers, says de Bathemer. “Over time, it became increasingly clear that I had to do something about this. I decided to write a film plan with a storyline that touches on a universal theme, a war trauma that is unconsciously passed on to future generations.”
Thailand
The documentary is about the life of Olckers, who died in a Japanese penal camp during World War II while working on the Burma railway in Thailand. The documentary is presented from a contemporary angle, in which Kotvis takes on the role of his great-uncle and follows the trail back from Amsterdam, to Java and Thailand, where Olckers eventually died of illness and exhaustion.
The 50-minute documentary draws attention to the underexposed theme of ‘intergenerational war trauma’, which many families around the world struggle with or carry with them unconsciously. And an ode is paid to the victims of this forgotten drama, people who once lived in freedom.
Kris
By returning an Indian kris (antique decorative dagger) and ring, which once belonged to Bram, to his grave, where a family member has never been. There an attempt is made to heal the trauma. By undertaking a pilgrimage, after 80 years (and three generations), the circle is complete again.
The crisis plays an important role in this. “A kris is an animated object for Indian people. Something that can send and receive about matters that take place outside the tangible world,” explains the documentary maker from Bathmen.
24 thousand euros
A crowdfunding campaign is needed to make the documentary. Production costs are estimated at 24 thousand euros. Kotvis can pay for half of this itself. He wants to collect the other half, 12 thousand euros, with the help of the crowdfunding platform Voor de Kunst. The promotion will run from January 8 to February 10, 2022. “I have already collected 4,500 euros,” said the Bathemer. “But a lot still needs to be done to bring in the remaining money.”
The filmmaker wants to offer the documentary to national and regional broadcasters and international film festivals upon completion. The project is supported by Stichting Herdenking Burma-Siam Spoorlijn (SHBSS), National Commemoration 15 August 1945, Human Rights in the Picture and the Indisch Remembrance Center.
.
