On 7 April 2014 the Dutch Jesuit Frans van der Lugt was murdered in Homs, Syria. He died at the age of 75. In this animation Frans van der Lugt sj looks back over his life, and his death. He makes a powerful appeal to the whole world: that love might come first.

To honour Father Frans, the Jesuits in the Netherlands and Flanders have produced an animated film about him. The film is available in 9 languages: Dutch, English, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese and Italian .

In the film, Van der Lugt sj has his say for a final time. He makes an urgent appeal to every human being to never give the last word to hatred, but to fight for love. “To my last gasp, I hoped that the hate, conflict and pain would stop”.

About the animation film:
Animator: Rens Wegerif
Illustrator: Jedi Noordegraaf (Studio Vandaar)
Monologue author: Rick Timmermans
Project coordinator: Nikolaas Sintobin SJ

About the music:
Most of the soundtrack was composed by Syrian percussionist Modar Salama. Salama experienced the civil war in Syria at first hand. He knew father Frans personally.