Maartje Wegdam · Nienke Huitenga Broeren

Sonja has no memory of the crucial moment in her early childhood that saved her life. The discovery of three long-lost rings spark a riveting journey into imagination. Wander through a deeply personal VR documentary between what is left and what is lost.

Sonja has always known that the people she grew up with were not her real parents, but during her childhood years in Surinam she never took much notice. Only a single photograph reminded her of her real father and mother and her childhood years in Amsterdam during the Second World War. In 2020, a stranger hands Sonja three silver napkin rings that had once belonged to her parents. These rings were dug up from a garden during a renovation, on the grounds of a former Jewish psychiatric facility. Sonja and her parents used to live near the facility for a short period after the war broke out. Until one horrific night on January 21st 1943 the institution was raided and its patients and staff were deported and murdered. It must have been Sonja’s parents that buried those rings in that garden around that time. But why? Her parents were never able to answer Sonja’s questions. They both were killed in Auschwitz. Now, over 80 years later, the rings prompt the director to start asking Sonja about what actually happened in 1943. In conversation Sonja explores what she no longer remembers: the impossible decision her parents made that ultimately saved her life. As a visitor you embark on this journey with her. Sonja guides you through echoes of the past, snippets of crucial scenes from her life and that of her parents towards one forgotten moment of loss and grief. You swivel between Paramaribo of the 1950’s, Amsterdam of the 1960’ and 1930’s and witness the building threat to Sonja’s parents that gradually leads to persecution on the grounds of the psychiatric institution during the war. While the lost memory is never found, the story immerses you in the dynamic, fragmentary forest of recollections and imagination. In LACUNA Sonja remains your companion, helping to anchor your experience throughout this exploration. Together, you will reimagine a virtual presence of what was lost and ultimately help Sonja reclaim her story.