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5 years after his death.

On 7 April 2019 it will be five years since the Dutch Jesuit Frans van der Lugt was murdered in Homs, Syria. He died at the age of 75.

To honour Father Frans van der Lugt SJ, the Jesuits from the Netherlands and Flanders made an animated film about him. The film was recorded in 9 languages, including Dutch, English and Arabic.

In the film Van der Lugt is speaking for the last time. He makes an urgent appeal to every human being to never give the last word to hatred, but to fight for love. "To my last sigh I hoped that hatred, struggle and pain would stop.

In the months before his death, Frans van der Lugt sj called on the international community to end the war and send food. His penetrating video messages were shown worldwide in many newsreels. His brutal death came as a shock.

In the animation film, the fictional voice of Jesuit Van der Lugt looks back on his abrupt end of life. On the one hand he has hope, on the other hand there is his own death. "As if everything has stopped. And yet it goes on. Yes, it goes on. That is his firm conviction. For: "it is love that continues. Nobody has to sit back and watch.

Father Francis lived in a besieged part of the Syrian city of Homs. While bombs struck, people around him died of hunger. What began as a siege of a few days at most, ended in months of siege. A few days after the murder of Van der Lugt, the inhabitants of Homs were able to leave the besieged district under the guidance of the United Nations.

About the animation film:

Animator: Rens Wegerif
Illustrator: Jedi Noordegraaf - Studio Vandaar.
Writer monologue: Rick Timmermans
Project coordinator: Nikolaas Sintobin sj

About the music:

Syrian percussionist Modar Salama composed a large part of the soundtrack. Salama experienced the civil war in Syria at first hand. He knew Frans van der Lugt sj personally.

The animated film is available in the following languages:

Dutch, English, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and Italian. Click for an overview.

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