Desmet films screened at Museum of Modern Art

On Sunday, 30 October 2011, twelve films from EYE’s Desmet Collection were screened in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The films were shown in a programme with live music as part of ‘To Save and Project: The Ninth MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation’.

With the title 'Cruel and Unusual Comedy from the Desmet Collection of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands: A Special Concert', the films Zigoto et la locomotive (1912),Onésime hologer (1912), Signora Robinet (1913),Amour et musique (1911)andBébé soigne son père (1912) were shown, among others. The films were accompanied by live music from musician Donald Sosin and the NYC Eclectic Electric Band.

The screening in New York on 30 October was  a much larger programme that MoMa will be organising in 2012 around EYE’s Desmet Collection.

The collection of film pioneer Jean Desmet (1875-1956) has been held since 1957 at the Filmmuseum – now EYE Film Institute Netherlands. In the period 1907-1916, Desmet was the first major Dutch film distributor. Desmet’s distribution collection contains circa 900 films including rare copies of work by directors such as D.W. Griffith and Louis Feuillade, films with Asta Nielsen and Lyda Borelli, and productions by the film companies Pathé, Gaumont and Edison.

Read more about the Desmet collection.