Film collection

Over the last 60 years, EYE has built up a collection that reflects the most important aspects of film history. Many parts of the collection are unique, such as the Desmet collection and the Dutch film collection. The former consists of over 900 films that were shown in cinemas during the 1910s.

EYE’s collection of Dutch films – the largest in the world – provides an overview of Dutch film history since 1905. The collection also contains documentaries, including the oeuvres of filmmakers Joris Ivens and Johan van der Keuken.

There are more than 62,000 kilometres of film stored in EYE’s repositories (approximately 37,000 films). The conservation and restoration of the collection is one of EYE’s most important tasks; the Institute has won prestigious international prizes for its conservation and restoration work.

Fragments from the EYE collection can be viewed at several websites including The Scene Machine and Instant Cinema. Click here for an overview.

Collection specialists
The most important sections of the collection are the Dutch film collection (historical and contemporary), silent film, experimental film, amateur film, company films, animation, mainstream cinema and art house classics. EYE has collection specialists for each of these sections.