Overview: A love story between a Suriname man (Borger Breeveld), his Dutch girlfriend (Willeke van Ammelrooy), and an Indian girl (Diana Gangaram Panday), that breaks all color, race, and religious barriers.

The last Scorpio Film, WAN PIPEL (One People) is considered Pim de la Parra (1940-2024) magnum opus and is now available for the first time on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray Verdict: Wan Pipel, or One People, is a film that reflects the painful history of Dutch colonialism through a man making a choice between two women, one who is white and lives in the Netherlands and another who is Indo-Surinamese and lives is from Suriname.

It’s a film more concerned with conveying its ideas than sometimes further establishing its characters, but it is an overall important film for the country of Suriname and that is still crafted well in many ways and stands out as the first post-colonial film from the country. There is also a really beautiful exploration of the country and its people.

Although very on-the-nose in its presentation of conflict and expository acting, it demonstrates Surinamese pride, one that seems to parade itself as reclaiming its culture in the polarities of the two male leads. This is tied in with its internal racial segregation.

It shows us the typical older generation living in the past where their cultural norm was a colonialized one - people kept to their kind but coveted what the richer man had; one being the access to higher education.

It’s a film no short of strong themes and drama that all reflect a real and common story of Caribbean people in the late 70’s. It may well be bluntly executed, but my goodness it is superbly cinematic.

Bonus Features:
New Restored 2K Transfer
Audio Commentary by film historian Lex Veerkamp and Bodil de la Parra
Introduction by Pim de la Parra (2020)
The Making of Wan Pipel (1976)
Interview with Willeke van Ammelrooy (2025) by Guido Franken
Bonus short film Aah… Tamara (1965)
Photo Gallery
Scorpio Films Trailers
New artwork design by Juan Esteban R.
Double-sided sleeve with original poster art
Slipcase

Wan Pipel (One People) Never Again [Scene] | Cult Epics

Official Purchase Link