Logline: In Nazi terrorized Holland a teenage student fails to protect her best friend, so when she finds four abandoned Jewish infants, she's determined to smuggle them to hiding places outside Amsterdam. But how? And who can she trust? Based on a true story.

SYNOPSIS:

SYNOPSIS PILOT EPISODE UNDER THE CLOCK

A Dangerous Game of Hide and Seek

by Wilke Durand

Teaser:

An endless stream of army trucks loaded with desperate Jewish families recede into the distance. In a daze a girl in her late teens crosses the bridge leading to the Jewish Quarter. An unnatural, deathly silence has descended. Suddenly, out of nowhere, four wailing children run up to her and cling to her, crying for their mother. One of the infants is covered from head to toe in coal dust. The little boy just stares at her; motionless, wordless.

A black statue, looking right through her; his eyes pale, like a panda bear in reverse.

Best friends, ANNE VAN DEN BOGAERDE and BETTY VAN KLEEF both in their late teens, try to live normal student lives but the increasingly gruesome regime of the Germans is forcing Anne and her friends to hatch a plan to set fire to the university's directory, so students can no longer be traced. Anne, who firmly believes that all people should stand up to their oppressors, whatever the cost, expects Betty to join her plans in sabotaging the Germans, but to Anne’s enormous anger, her friend is not interested at all. Betty even is seen with JANITOR VAN KEMPEN, an alleged Nazi lover. Her friend’s secretive behavior worries Anne and when she confronts Betty with her cowardice, the girls' distance is growing and so is Anne's distrust.

The truth is, that Betty is Jewish, and nobody knows. Growing up in a liberal Jewish family, where being Jewish was never an issue, Betty doesn't feel the need to make it an issue now. Betty is convinced that the Jews are powerless against the hatred of the Nazis, so she suffers the anti-Jewish measures in silence; the last thing she wants is to be pitied. But the net of the humiliating anti-Jewish measures is closing around Betty so when Jews are banned from universities, and it is mandatory to always wear a yellow star visible on their clothing, Betty sees no other way out than to take things into her own hands. She climbs upon a chair, ties a makeshift noose…

But Anne comes home unexpectedly and Betty, for her friend’s sake doesn’t go through with it. However, Anne senses that there is something wrong. Betty’s depressed mood worries her. She needs to know what Betty’s hiding, but Betty stays silent. The next day Anne overhears a cryptic conversation between their swim coach and Betty. Anne confronts Betty with her lies, but Betty just tells Anne she will leave the university to move back to her parents in Amsterdam.

Anne has a history of missing the signs of other’s emotional distress, so when she discovers the reason behind Betty’s secretive behavior, she is guilt ridden and determined to save her friend from deportation by the Nazis. Anne’s father has already agreed to take Betty in and Anne pushes Betty to accept this hiding place. But Betty won't be forced; she doesn’t want to be saved. Under false pretenses, Betty breaks up with her boyfriend FREEK VAN BELLAERTS and leaves town without notice to join her family in Amsterdam.

Anne visits Betty in Amsterdam to persuade the van Kleef family to go into hiding but for Betty’s parents, going into hiding is out of the question; it’s too dangerous. If they get caught, they will be sent to a penal camp, instead of a normal work camp and they just don’t want to take the chance. It scares Anne to see that Betty seems to have accepted her fate and with a heavy heart Anne leaves her behind.

Back in Utrecht, Anne devotes herself completely to destroying the university’s address files but she takes unacceptable risks. Her anger and grief about Betty’s refusal to accept her help, is clouding her vision. Janitor van Kempen is watching them closely, so her group of student friends and accomplices force Anne to abort the mission at the last minute.

Anne just can’t accept nor understand Betty’s refusal to fight her fate. While she’s looking for answers, she learns secrets she’d rather not have known. Memories from Anne’s past surface. She can’t bear to lose Betty; she must find a way to persuade Betty to come with her before it’s too late.

Anne rushes to Amsterdam, arriving just in time to witness Betty and her family's arrest by the Nazis during a massive raid. In the aftermath of this brutal roundup, Anne finds four abandoned young Jewish children on the now empty streets. Facing her fears, Anne sees no other way than to help these children escape. But how? And who can she trust?

On a bloodcurdling journey through a city swarming with Germans, Anne and the children narrowly escape, and find refuge at a student friend’s home, inconveniently located opposite Gestapo-headquarters. Her student friend GRIETJE introduces her to an Amsterdam student resistance group, who offer their help to get the children out of town.

But first, Anne must find out where Betty and her family have been taken. Is there still hope? Is Betty still in Holland or did they immediately deport her to Auschwitz?

Betty who thought she had accepted her fate, unexpectedly escapes deportation by throwing herself from the deportation train. However, it looks as though Betty hasn’t survived her leap to freedom…

At the office of the Jewish Council, Anne is told that Betty and her family have been deported to Auschwitz by direct train. Anne is devastated. As she leaves for the station where Grietje and the children are waiting for her, she doesn't notice that she is being followed by a mysterious man.

Cliffhanger:

Anne, Grietje and the children are waiting at the train station, under the clock. Just as they want to board the train, the mysterious man resolutely puts his hand on Anne's shoulder. They are all glued to the spot.

Email: wilke@wilkedurand.nl - Phone: +31626540616 – www.wilkedurand.nl

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