Plot

As the 1914 summer sun heats up mainland Europe, World War One crashes down across the fractured peninsula. Living in Paris, Dutchman Arthur Knaap yearns to serve, protect and defend his beloved nation and joins the Foreign Legion.

PATRIA tells the true story of Arthur Knaap, an adventurous young man, son of an Indonesian father and a Dutch mother. The bond between him and his father is very strong and Arthur follows his father, Otto, to Paris where he has a job as a correspondent for a Dutch newspaper.

When in 1914 war breaks out, Arthur enthusiastically joins the ranks of the Foreign Legion to serve his beloved France. He becomes however quickly discouraged, witnessing his friends getting killed in the unexpectedly long and horrifying trench warfare.

About to desert the army, Arthur finds a friend, Jules, whom he starts to feel responsible for. This friendship though, turns out to be quite fragile when Arthur is confronted with both the death of his father and that of his fatherly Lieutenant. Arthur pushes Jules and others away and hopes for the comfort of home during leave. His girlfriend, just like many civilians, is unaware of the truths of war and Arthur feels there is no one to really understand him. He turns his frustration towards the enemy and is soon back in fighting mode, regaining the respect of his fellow soldiers.

When Jules is lost during a fight, Arthur feels this is somehow his doing. He puts his life on the line to find and save Jules. When he does in the end, Jules is shell-shocked and together they witness the end of the war.

From the trenches Arthur wrote letters home. Emotional letters with stories of struggle and the zeitgeist. These letters have served as the basis for the screenplay