Premiere at Film by the Sea
On Sunday 13 September, the youth film ‘Valk – The Power of Water’ will premiere at Film by the Sea in Vlissingen. The film tells the story of twelve-year-old Valk, who, during an exciting adventure, discovers what happened on Walcheren in 1944. In doing so, the film brings to life, in an accessible way, an important episode from Zeeland’s history that is still unknown to many young people.
The film is based on the children’s book of the same name by the Middelburg-based author Catalijn van Wijk. She wrote the book drawing on her experience as a Dutch teacher at CSW Van de Perre. She noticed that many pupils knew very little about what the inundation of Walcheren entailed, even though it was a momentous event in the history of the island where they themselves live and are growing up.
From children’s book to film
The story has now been adapted for the screen by Zeeland-based filmmaker Daphne Koelma. She directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Catalijn van Wijk. Adrie Boxmeer is the executive producer.
The book was received with enthusiasm upon its publication. Whilst writing, Van Wijk read the story aloud to schoolchildren. Their reactions were remarkably positive: the children really empathised with Valk and wanted to keep reading. Even after publication, there were many enthusiastic responses from both young and adult readers.
That interest helped form the basis for the idea of bringing the story to the big screen.
A thrilling story about the inundation
The story centres on twelve-year-old Peter, nicknamed Valk because of his keen eyesight. During the May half-term, he is allowed to join the crew of the cutter Jannetje Maria from the fishing harbour in Vlissingen. He wants to find out whether fishing is the right career for him.
On the very first day, something unexpected happens: the crew pull an old English aeroplane bomb out of the sea. The bomb has to be defused by the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service.
Whilst the ship waits at sea, the skipper explains to Valk why there are still so many bombs lying off the Zeeland coast. He hears for the first time about the bombing of the Walcheren dykes during the Battle of the Scheldt. Seawater poured into the island through the holes in the dykes, and eventually around eighty per cent of Walcheren was flooded.
For Valk, this opens up a whole new world of which he had previously known nothing.
A journey of discovery through Walcheren
His curiosity takes Valk on a journey of discovery around the island. He wants to know exactly what happened and, along the way, meets various people who each recount the war and the inundation from their own perspective.
For instance, he visits the Het Polderhuis museum in Westkapelle, where he speaks to an elderly British pilot who was involved in the bombing of the Walcheren dykes at the time.
At the inundation monument in Vlissingen, he meets a German tourist who is searching for the place where his grandfather was stationed during the war. Valk also meets an elderly woman, nicknamed Oma Babbelaer, who, as a girl in October 1944, had to flee her farm with her family to escape the rising water.
History also comes to life in the classroom. Valk’s history teacher arranges for his uncle Anton to come and talk about the inundation and the period that followed. His story about a small chest found after the war, containing items such as hand grenades and blood corals, adds yet another exciting piece of history to Valk’s journey of discovery.
The result is a story in which adventure and history are constantly intertwined.
History for a young audience
Valk – The Power of Water is aimed at children aged approximately 10 to 14. The creators want to introduce them to the history of their own province in an engaging way. Not as a history lesson, but as an exciting and relatable story in which a peer sets out on a journey of discovery.
It is precisely this format that makes it possible to bring an event – one that is unfamiliar to many young people – closer to home. Valk not only discovers what happened on Walcheren almost eighty years earlier, but also sees how that history is still visible in the landscape and lives on in people’s stories.
A Zeeland production
The film is backed by a team with strong roots in Zeeland. Director Daphne Koelma has been active in the film industry for many years and was previously responsible for, amongst other things, the short feature film De wensmoeder. Catalijn van Wijk wrote the original book and contributed to the screenplay. Adrie Boxmeer, a former journalist for organisations including the NOS and Omroep Zeeland, is the executive producer.
Support for the production has also been provided from within Zeeland. The Zeeland Film Commission is providing logistical support on behalf of the province. In addition, various historical locations have agreed to cooperate, including Het Polderhuis in Westkapelle, the Zeeland Liberation Museum and the Bunker Preservation Foundation.
The project is supported by an Advisory Committee, comprising Hans Sakkers and Tobias van Gent, authors of the standard work The Battle of the Scheldt 1944, and Barbara Oomen, Chair of the Executive Board of HZ University of Applied Sciences.
A film with an educational role
The film is not intended solely for cinema screenings. Film by the Sea has expressed its intention to include Valk – The Power of Water in its educational programme as well. This will enable school pupils from across the province to watch the film as a class.
The screenings can be accompanied by specially developed teaching materials for subjects including history, social studies, Dutch, and cultural and artistic education. Discussions between the filmmakers and, where possible, actors with pupils are also among the options.
In addition, Omroep Zeeland has announced its intention to broadcast the film at a later date.
On the big screen almost eighty years later
After a production period of one and a half years, the moment is now drawing near. On Sunday 13 September 2026, Valk – The Power of Water will officially premiere during Film by the Sea in Vlissingen. The screening begins at 3.00 pm in theatre 4XL at Pathé Vlissingen.
With Valk – The Power of Water, an important chapter in Zeeland’s history is reaching a new audience. Through the eyes of a curious twelve-year-old boy, the inundation of Walcheren is not merely recounted, but brought to life. A history that remains unknown to many young people thus comes to life, both literally and figuratively, on the big screen.
The Hurgronje Family Fund made a financial contribution to the realisation of this film.
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