Het Kogelgat van Château St. Gerlach (2015)

The Bullet Hole of Château St Gerlach - equality does not beget war Captain Joseph Ryan from New Jersey was killed in Germany on 1 March 1945 while serving with the 744th Tank Battalion. Camille Oostwegel, the adopter of Captain Ryan's grave in Margraten, together with director Robin Peeters, has embarked on the making of a documentary about Ryan. The starting point of the documentary is a mysterious bullet hole in one of the gilded mirrors in Château St Gerlach in Valkenburg. It is said to date back to World War II and to have been put there by an African-American soldier. Legend has it that white officer Joseph Ryan made sure to cover up the incident to prevent the black comrade-in-arms from getting severely punished. The story allows the documentary makers to explore the contradiction of Europe's liberation by a racially segregated American military while simultaneously pointing to World War II as a catalyst of tremendous change in the United States.