The Resistance Banker

In occupied Holland the banker Walraven van Hall sees that the resistance's largest problem is money: hidden Jews, striking railway workers and the underground press cannot survive unfunded. With his brother he builds a system that moves millions out of the state bank, and does it entirely on paper, with forged securities. Joram Lürsen made the film from a real life; Van Hall was caught and shot in the last months of the war. The story shows not armed resistance but bookkeeping, and builds its tension on ledgers, signatures and telephone calls. Barry Atsma leads. It swept the Golden Calf awards in the Netherlands and was submitted as the country's Oscar entry. Who it is for: viewers who like Second World War resistance stories and thrillers based on real events. Who it is not for: anyone expecting action.