Fight for FREEDOM (2022)

A magical epic about Friesland’s biggest hero.

Fabled Frisian freedom fighter Peer Gerlofs Donia is a gentle giant who turns into a blood-thirsty, revenge-driven killer when his family is brutally murdered. His quest for revenge forges him into a beacon for his people – ultimately resulting in him becoming their leader in a fight for independence.

This mythical epic is more than just a biography. It is an ode to Fryslân, a country that fought for its freedom and is still fighting for it. Fight for Freedom explores how a good, kindhearted man can turn into an evil monster and how this energy transforms into an unrelenting pursuit for freedom. It asks why sometimes we must tap into the darkness within the human soul to make change happen.

Telling the magical story of Friesland’s clay, the film immortalises the blood that was spilt and the human lives that were lost on the grounds of the bloody battle of Warns, a pivotal moment in which many Frisian peasant soldiers faced a much larger army and lost their lives in the iconic and victorious battle for independence.

The history of the Frisian struggle remains profound to this day, where they remain a people who still refuse to bow to lawmakers in the West. As they say in Friesland: Leaver dea as Slaef (rather dead than a slave)!

Ultimately, Fight for Freedom is a bloody yet moving revenge film about a Frisian hero.

Director Steven de Jong’s historical and mythological tour de force was made over a six-year period across stunning natural locations.