De OpdrachtThe AssignmentDer Auftrag
Summer 1947. A boys' camp in the heath. Sixteen-year-old Ewout, scarred by the war, wants nothing more than to belong.
Logline
Summer 1947. A boys' camp in the heath. Sixteen-year-old Ewout, scarred by the war, wants nothing more than to belong.
A film about peer pressure, emerging sexuality, true friendship and self-acceptance.
Flanders, 1947. Ewout, almost seventeen, a cocky boy with a glass eye, sets off with his brother Rini for a summer camp for children traumatised by the war. Ewout has sky-high expectations. He has prepared meticulously, memorising difficult words and rehearsing a forced masculine posture. He dreams of being popular, loved, important. He wants to be seen.
The first days seem to go his way. Jan, a naive boy his own age, looks up to him with admiration. But Ewout would rather win the favour of the older boys. He hands out cigarettes, lies about his home, rebels against the rules. Hugo, the charismatic group leader, senses the vulnerable boy behind the bravado and takes him under his wing. Admitted to the circle of the older boys, Ewout feels chosen. Here the law of the strongest rules.
Ewout drifts away from Rini and starts to behave like an alpha male. Yet the older boys laugh at his eagerness, and what should have been an unforgettable adventure turns into an ordeal. Only when everything escalates does Ewout learn to look critically at himself and at the others. With Rini and Jan at his side, he confronts the past he has been trying so hard to forget – and discovers who he really wants to be.
Based on the novel “De opdracht” (1995) by Wessel te Gussinklo, awarded the F. Bordewijk Prize and the Lucy B. and C.W. van der Hoogt Prize.
About the film
A thought-provoking story of becoming a man, where the scars of the recent Second World War are felt at every step.
The summer of 1947. Although it is already the second year of peace following the devastating Second World War, its deep wounds are still everywhere. Ewout is also recovering from the conflict. He is just a boy, but he wants to be a man of distinction. He joins the scouts to prove himself. Unfortunately, things do not go to plan, and the others turn against him.
“The Assignment” is a film about the desire to belong despite being different. Ewout conceals the eye he lost during the war with an uncanny prosthetic, which causes him endless trouble. The boy is ostracised by both the girls and fellow scouts, who refuse to accept anyone different from themselves. Does Ewout’s imperfection have a place in a society that values only a healthy body and mind?
Although “The Assignment” depicts events from 80 years ago, it is perhaps more relevant than ever. According to the director, this story needed to be told urgently, because we seem to have forgotten one of humanity’s fundamental truths: despite our differences, everyone deserves trust and love.
Programme text by Helmut Jänes, Black Nights Film Festival
Director
Patrice
Toye
Patrice Toye has a precise eye for the themes at the heart of The Assignment: adolescents at the edge of a group, the longing to belong, the price of pretending to be someone else. Since her debut, her films have returned to outsiders, adolescence and the quiet violence of communities.
ROSIE (1998) premiered at the Berlinale and was released in the USA, France and Japan. NOWHERE MAN (2008) premiered in Venice and won the NHK International Filmmakers Award at Sundance. LITTLE BLACK SPIDERS (2012) opened Film Fest Ostend and won Best Director in Arras as well as Best Film, Best Director and Best Script in Vancouver. MUIDHOND / TENCH (2019) won the Audience Award at Film Fest Gent and Best Film at the Gangneung International Film Festival.
Filmography
- 1998Rosie
- 2005Wanted Man
- 2008Nowhere Man
- 2012Little Black Spiders
- 2019Muidhond (Tench)
- 2026De Opdracht (The Assignment)
Trailer
PÖFF
Trailer
Cast
Ewout
& the camp
Supporting cast
Crew
Behind
the camera
- Director
- Patrice Toye
- Screenplay
- Patrice Toye, Peter SeynaeveBased on the novel by Wessel te Gussinklo
- Cinematography
- Richard van Oosterhout
- Editing
- Bert Jacobs
- Music
- John Parish
- Production Design
- Vincent de Pater
- Costume Design
- Nathalie Leborgne
- Make-up & Hair
- Labhise Allara Madango Ciratu
- Sound Design
- Marc Lizier
- Casting
- Sien Josephine Teijssen
- Producers
- Hans Everaert, Harry Flöter, Jörg Siepmann, Mats Willems
- Co-producers
- Robert Alberdingk Thijm, Norbert ter Hall, Anton Iffland Stettner, Eva Kuperman
- Production
- A co-production of Menuetto, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Willy Waltz International, Stenola Productions
- Distribution Germany
- Cologne Cine Collective
- Distribution Benelux
- Lumière
- World Sales
- Reason8
Festival
PÖFF
Tallinn 2026
World Premiere — Official Competition
30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
6–22 November 2026, Tallinn, Estonia
Screenings