In this episode, Cesar Majorana follows the restoration of Gebroken spiegels (Broken Mirrors) (1984), a feminist classic about sex workers and the second feature film by the later Oscar winner Marleen Gorris, to investigate what such a resurrection of a film entails.
The restoration takes Cesar to a secret bunker, the office of one of the most important producers in Dutch film history, and a grey industrial estate in Waddinxveen, where restorer Jan Scholten spends days in the dark to polish the footage of Broken Mirrors. What makes his work so indispensable? And why should we all watch this 1984 film again?
Op de vijfde rij at the Dutch film archives
Thousands of film reels are stored in the Dutch film archive of Eye Filmmuseum, waiting to be archived and restored. But the profession of film restorer is threatened with extinction: knowledge of all kinds of old techniques is in danger of being lost.
illustration: Aafke Bouman
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still from Gebroken spiegels (Marleen Gorris, NL 1984)
Eye Film Player
The digital restoration of Broken Mirrors (Gebroken spiegels) can be watched at home via the Eye Film Player.