Lehman Trilogy has caused a furore on the West End and Broadway in recent years. Directed by Guy Cassiers, ITA is presenting this unparalleled 150-year story in the Dutch language for the first time.
In the middle of the 19th century, three Jewish brothers emigrate from Bavaria to America. In the Deep South they start a small fabric shop and become wealthy in the cotton trade. Their family business develops into a dizzying financial empire that is handed down from generation to generation. In 2008 it is jointly responsible for the financial and banking crisis. This is how Lehman Brothers self-destructs.

With Lehman Trilogy, the Italian author Stefano Massini not only wrote the story of a family, but also the history of ruthless American capitalism. Slavery and industrialization, war and new technological developments: whatever happens in America and even globally, the Lehmans always know how to make good money out of it. Everything they plan to do – including getting married and having children – is tested in advance against the question: what will it yield? Gradually, the technology and impersonality of the financial system become part of the relationships within the family.

The hidden force is an enthralling story about the misunderstandings and incomprehension between cultures, as well as between close relatives. The downfall of Otto van Oudijck makes us painfully aware of the impossibility to fully understand others.

2020 Dutch film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.