In my Father's Garden reaches 100.000 tickets sold mark hero image In my Father's Garden reaches 100.000 tickets sold mark mobile hero image

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In my Father's Garden reaches 100.000 tickets sold mark

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"To mark this success, lead actor Barry Atsma was surprised on behalf of the Netherlands Film Festival and the Netherlands Film Fund with the Golden Film award."

In my Father's Garden, the classic tragedy about two people whose love for one another knows no bounds, has achieved the status of ‘Golden Film’. On Saturday the film, directed by Ben Sombogaart, celebrated the 100,000th ticket sold. To mark this success, lead actor Barry Atsma was surprised on behalf of the Netherlands Film Festival and the Netherlands Film Fund with the Golden Film award. In my Father's Garden is the fourth film to achieve Golden Film status this year.

Childhood sweethearts Hans (Barry Atsma) and Margje Sievez (Noortje Herlaar) lead a happy family life at their nursery. They both work hard to keep the business going; their unconditional love for one another keeps them strong. One day, Hans meets the preacher Jozef Mieras (Marcel Hensema), who talks to him about God and re-awakens memories of his strict religious upbringing. When Hans has a deeply religious experience, he becomes convinced he has been in direct contact with God. In his ensuing search for meaning and eternal life, he loses sight of reality and contact with those around him. He falls increasingly under the spell of this faith, which alienates him ever further from his family. As Hans seems to be sinking ever deeper into the clutches of the sect, Margje can do little but stand by and watch the love of her life slowly but surely slipping away.


In my Father's Garden is a film by director Ben Sombogaart based on the screenplay by Hugo Heinen. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same title by Jan Siebelink and is produced by NL Film in co-production with KRO-NCRV, Zilvermeer Productions (BE) and Nanook Entertainment. In my Father's Garden came about with support from the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive of the Netherlands Film Fund, CoBO, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund and Belgian Tax Shelter. The film is distributed by September Film and is currently still screening in 108 cinemas in the Netherlands.


The Golden Film, Platinum Film and Diamond Film awards are presented by the Netherlands Film Festival and the Netherlands Film Fund to Dutch films that sell 100,000, 400,000 and 1,000,000 cinema tickets during their theatrical release. The Crystal Film award is presented to Dutch documentaries selling 10,000 cinema tickets. The Golden Film award is accompanied by the Golden Pen presented to the film’s screenwriter by the Netwerk Scenarioschrijvers (Dutch Screenwriters’ Association).