2 Minutes Silence, Please

Every year on May 4 at exactly 8 p.m., traffic stops all over the Netherlands. People gather or sit alone for two minutes of silence to honor those who died during World War II. What is the significance of this annual ritual today? With that question in mind, filmmaker Heddy Honigmann interviewed a number of Dutch people, including filmmaker Netty Rosenfeld, writer Anna Enquist, the daughter of a former member of the Dutch fascist party, and a cafe owner whose establishment looks out on the National Monument at Dam Square in Amsterdam.

The conversations took place on Remembrance Day, and the documentary is divided into three parts: morning, afternoon and evening. We not only gain insight into the different feelings and thoughts that Remembrance Day evokes, but we also get to see how these four people prepare themselves for the traditional two minutes of silence. By using several camera crews, the two minute sequences of the actual remembrance were shot simultaneously at various locations.