Film files

Here you can find a collection of articles on Dutch film history and Eye's collection; from the first films in the Netherlands to issues surrounding digital restoration.

De wraak van het visschersmeisje (NL, Jan van Dommelen, 1914) before and after restoration.

Digital restoration

How can a digitized film be a faithful representation of the analogue original?

How to save a film

We cannot take the good condition of the films in our archives for granted.

Still from Uit het rijk der kristallen (1927, J.C. Mol).

Experimental film in the Netherlands

Experimental films are films whose primary objective is to investigate - for example light, editing or the expectations of the viewer.

Hondenkarren (NL, Onbekend, 1899)

Dutch Film Production until 1900

In June 1896, Amsterdam-based photographer M.H. Laddé made three short films that were shown in Christiaan Slieker's travelling cinema from Leeuwarden.

Feestelijk bezoek van H.M. de koningin Wilhelmina aan Rotterdam (NL, Emile Lauste, 1899)

The Oldest Dutch Films in the Eye Archives

The vast majority of films made in the first decennia of film history are lost.

Postcard of Rotterdam's Coolsingel, showing the triangular facade of the Tivoli Winter Garden on the left, where cinema screenings were held from 1903 onwards.

The first permanent cinemas

For the first time, one could speak of autonomous film exhibition in a permanent venue on a regular basis.

Still from Bet naar de Olympiade (NL, Theo Frenkel sr., 1928)

The Dutch Feature Film in the 1920s

The end of WWI ushered in major changes in the film world. The American film industry had developed enormously during the war.

Trade Journals and Fan Magazines

Around 1907, the first film magazines were published in Britain and Germany. It was not until 1912 that the first film magazine appeared in the Netherlands: 'De Bioscoop-Courant'.

Poster for Grevinde X (DK, Holger Rasmussen, 1909) released in Germany as Der rote Domino

The Cinema Question and School Cinema

Can cinemas ever be a suitable place for children? Discussions in 1912 led fairly quickly to a number of Dutch cities instituting local film censorship.

Loet C. Barnstijn (1880 - 1953).

The Emergence of the Sound Film

In 1930, more than half of all Dutch cinemas had sound projectors, making this country one of the forerunners in Europe.

Lilian harvey wishes you a happy Easter.

The management of the UFA and Lilian Harvey wish you a happy Easter; Nieuw Weekblad voor de Cinematografie, 18 April 1930.

Foreign Stars in the Netherlands in the 1930s

In the 1930s, many foreign stars regularly came to the Netherlands as part of publicity campaigns for themselves or their films.

Dutch editor Lien d'Oliveyra (left) and colleagues, 1936.

Female film editors in the 1930s

One of the first roles behind the camera where women did gain a foothold was that of editor.

LO-LKP (NL, Max de Haas, 1949)

WWII and the Resistance: From LO-LKP to De overval

After WWII, the studios in Duivendrecht and Wassenaar had been plundered and destroyed. Many people essential to the Dutch film industry had either been killed or had fled abroad.

Poster for De vliegende Hollander (NL, Gerard Rutten, 1957)

At Last: Support for Dutch Feature Films

In 1946, film production appeared for the first time as an item in the federal budget. For the first time, the government was prepared to invest structurally in film.

Title card for the Nederlandse Onderwijs Film (NOF)

NOF – Netherlands Foundation for Educational Films

In the early 1940s an increasing number of commentators argued that teachers should be able to screen educational films themselves, in their own classrooms.

Left to right: Samuel Meyering, Rem Koolhaas, Frans Bromet, René Daalder en Jan de Bont.

Samuel Meyering, Rem Koolhaas, Frans Bromet, René Daalder, Jan de Bont.
(c) Frans Bromet

Dutch Film Academy

In its first few months, the academy offered only two subjects: ‘Film trade’ and ‘screenplay writing and script technique’.

Still from A Sunday on the Island of the Grande Jatte (NL, Frans Weisz, 1965)

De korte fictiefilm in de jaren zestig

In the 1946 state budget, for the first time, a sum was set aside for short films.

Skoop and Skrien: A New Wind

Two new film magazines appeared on the market in the 1960s: Skoop in 1963 and Skrien in 1968. Both were founded by students of the Dutch Film Academy.

Film files

Film files

Long reads

Digital restoration

How to save a film

Experimental film in the Netherlands

Early film

Dutch Film Production until 1900

The Oldest Dutch Films in the Eye Archives

The first permanent cinemas

The tens and twenties

The Dutch Feature Film in the 1920s

Trade Journals and Fan Magazines

The Cinema Question and School Cinema

The thirties

The Emergence of the Sound Film

Foreign Stars in the Netherlands in the 1930s

Female film editors in the 1930s

The forties and fifties

WWII and the Resistance: From LO-LKP to De overval

At Last: Support for Dutch Feature Films

NOF – Netherlands Foundation for Educational Films

The sixties and seventies

Dutch Film Academy

De korte fictiefilm in de jaren zestig

Skoop and Skrien: A New Wind