Kiet Engels is the kind of teacher one wishes every schoolchild could have. She is strict but never harsh. She is loving but never soft. Her patience in endless.

Miss Kiet’s pupils have only just arrived in Holland. Many are refugees. Everything is new and confusing. Some at first are quarrelsome and headstrong. But Miss Kiet’s firm but loving hand brings calm and awakens interest. She not only teaches her pupils to read and write Dutch, but also helps them learn to solve problems together and respect one another. Slowly the children gain skills and confidence.

By observation alone, without interviews or voice-over, the film focuses on four children of different nationalities. Pursuing their perspective, the camera follows at close hand their struggles to learn a new language, their fights, their friendships and their first loves.

By the end of the documentary, an affectionate community has grown – the fruit of a teacher’s patience and dedication. A film of many touching moments, some of them hilarious, The Children of Miss Kiet chronicles changes that are small yet at the same time immense.

Directed by Petra Lataster-Czisch & Peter Lataster
Produced by Lataster Films
Info: 113min - The Netherlands - 2016
Status: completed

Winner Audience Award at Munich International Documentary Festival 2017
Winner Best Documentary Film at World Humanitarian Awards 2017
Belgian premiere at Docville 2017
World premiere at IDFA 2016

Post Bills: Programming & press