Leonie Brandt (1901-1978) dreamed of becoming an actress. After realising her dream she took on the role of her life: she became a spy for the Dutch intelligence service in Nazi Germany. After the war a number of prominent Dutchmen feared Leonie for what she knew about their actions during the occupation. The film follows the chronology of her astonishing life via scenes from old movies. Shrouded in a haze of mystery, the ‘real’ or ‘fictional’ of her life is not always clear.

Dir. Annette Apon - 85min - 2020 - Netherlands

"Leonie writes somewhere that she was an avid film lover. That gave me the idea to recall her life stories through old film fragments. There are only a few photos of Leonie. The images of the many different actresses from the film fragments together form the image of Leonie. In this way the many sides of her personality take shape, her fluid identity becomes tangible." - Annette Apon on https://truestoryfilm.blog/

"Leonie Brandt, is one of the most mysterious characters of 20th-century Netherlands' history. A German-born, Dutch-by-marriage actress and playwright who worked for the Dutch secret service and then also for the Nazis... But who was Leonie really? Or: Is there such a thing as a life that is 'real'?" - International Film Festival Rotterdam.

"How do you make a film about someone of whom there exists no moving images? Diving into the mysteries surrounding Leonie Brandt, an actor turned double-agent for the Dutch intelligence service during the second world war, Annette Apon’s documentary enlists the extensive archive of the Eye Film Museum" - Guardian

"the story of an incredibly fascinating woman who was never satisfied with one life, but always had to play several" - Film Totaal