Industry Films

Willy Mullens was commissioned to make a film about a glass factory in Leerdam in 1917. The director of the glass factory, P.M. Cochius, commissioned the film. Glas-Industrie in Leerdam was released in 1918 and was one of the first Dutch commissioned business film ever made. After the project for the NV Glasfabriek Leerdam, Mullens received commissions to make films for a number of other Dutch companies, including Philips, Jurgens, Calvé and Heineken. This was good for business – because Mullens’ films were now financed by third parties, his income was no longer dependent on film distribution.

Still from Koninklijke Stearine Kaarsenfabriek Gouda (NL, Willy Mullens, 1918)

Business films and social unrest

During the period between the two world wars, the enterprising Dutch made hundreds of business films. It was a time of socio-cultural unrest. Striking workers and inflammatory pamphlets pointed accusing fingers at capitalism as the source of all evil. Socialists, free-thinking liberals and progressive Protestants and Catholics demanded a radical shift in the labour relations. Companies considered it very important to strengthen the bonds between themselves and their workers. The industry film provided the chance to humanise the factory. In these films, the manager is an amiable family man and the assembly line is the ideal place for a cosy, chatting girls’ club; management and workers worked together to build a new, modern nation.

A gift from God

For the Dutch film industry, this interest from businesses was heaven-sent. Haghe Film, Filmfabriek Polygoon and Orion Filmfabriek were profitable for years thanks to the commissions they received from Dutch businesses. Otto van Neijenhoff started a production company called IWA (Industrie, wetenschap en actueel, ‘Industry, science and current affairs’) in 1927 that concentrated exclusively on making business films. He made dozens of such films for the Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat (VNF).

The way Mullens had filmed Glas-Industrie in Leerdam set an example that would be followed by other filmmakers for years thereafter. To put it simply, the films traced the industrial process step-by-step, from the transport of resources and the production process through to the distribution of the end product. There weren’t very many options for variations for the filmmakers. With their cost-conscious clients, they didn’t have much time or room for writing good scripts, careful lighting or creative editing.

Every so often there were tricks they could use to make the films more interesting, but these were merely cosmetic. For example, Mullens would use (female) personnel in his productions, and Van Neijenhoff added animation sequences; another filmmaker, Theo Güsten, made aerial recordings and inserted historical scenes. It wasn’t until the influence of the avant-garde at the end of the 1920s that the business film would undergo fundamental changes.

No public interest

Although the keepers of national and Christian morals sang the praises of industrial film’s educational aspects, audiences avoided the genre. The predictable succession of flywheels, fire-spewing furnaces and toiling workers just didn’t draw audiences to the cinemas. According to Luc Willink, film reviewer for the national newspaper ‘Het Vaderland’, viewers watched the films out of courtesy, and yawned their way through them.

One exception to this, however, were the shows organised by the VNF. This association had loyal supporters and it presented its business films with a nationalistic twist.Considering the financial limitations, the quality of some films is admirable. Some images are remarkably beautiful, considering the lack of light in the factories. Mullens and Van Neijenhoff performed some stunts with a trolley on the roof of a factory building that yielded some spectacular images.

In addition to this, the films give present-day viewers an excellent glimpse into the working conditions and the division of labour, and shows the fascination for the new industry that existed at that time.

Still from Oproep van het Nederlandsch Centraal Filmarchief (NL, Onbekend, 1928)

The Dutch Central Film Archive

In October 1919, the Nederlandsch Centraal Filmarchief (‘Dutch Central Film Archive’) was established, aiming to preserve images of the Netherlands for later generations.

Film still from N.V. Philips gloeilampenfabrieken (NL, Otto van Neijenhoff, Willy Mullens, 1919)

Modernity

In the 19th century, one innovation after another was being invented, and film was only one.

Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat: Tailor-made Company Films

When the Vereeniging Nederlandsch Fabrikaat (VNF) started up its own film division to make company films in 1925, there were no signs to indicate that they would become successful.