Museumnacht 2023

Programme

• Temporary exhibition: Janis Rafa – Feed me. Cheat me. Eat me.

  Eye Filmmuseum presents a solo exhibition by artist and filmmaker Janis Rafa. Spoken language rarely features in her evocative films and video installations; she focuses instead on the silent presence of non-humans, allowing them to become the leading force within her poetic compositions. Her narratives emphasise animalistic instincts, untamed behaviours and inabilities to coexist, alongside human fears, expectations and failure.

  Rafa’s visual language is filmic and seductive. Yet her work is disquieting: it prompts the viewer to consider pressing questions, such as how humans relate to one another and to the world around them. Her latest works – which premieres at Eye - focus on the tension between care for and exploitation of animals and landscapes, through human inventions and desires.
  
  Join one of the tour guides and learn more about the work of Janis Rafa, or walk around the exhibition space yourself.

• Permanent exhibition: What is Film?

  Various components on the ground floor and distributed throughout Eye highlight the world of moving images. Get to know the development of film, from the past to the present. Graze through Eye's unique collection. Learn how the earliest cameras worked. Enjoy the most beautiful fragments. Make your own flipbook or animated film.

• Music: Artefakt all night long

  In line with the work of Janis Rafa, Artefakt takes nature and animal sounds as a starting point for a live DJ set that builds from calm ambient to a techno climax, especially for Museumnacht in Eye.
  
  Artefakt, a project by Nick Lapien and Robin Koek, is based on a shared love for melancholic, hypnotic voodoo music. Their thoughtful sound with deep, rich textures and long tracks allows for subtle changes in texture and tone, creating expansive, balanced atmospheres that absorb and activate. Lapien and Koek recently toured Europe, North America and Asia.
  
  During the set, the Arena will be dedicated to animals in film, with projected images from the Eye collection in which animals play the leading role.

• Film: Anthropomorphic classics on celluloid

  Eye's collection includes more than 54,000 films from all genres and offers a sample of film history, from classics and blockbusters to cult films. For this Museumnacht we revisit classic films with anthropomorphic creatures, animal protagonists with sometimes very human features. What character traits have been attributed to animals over the years, what mirror do we hold up to ourselves and what does that say about our changing relationship with animals?
  
  We show these films on 35mm or 70mm. On those formats you see more color and deeper blacks than you are used to from digital sources (or your Babe video tape) nowadays. You can also see the traces of use and therefore the history of the film. If it was a popular film, you can tell by the signs of wear. Watch the films in full or drop in whenever you want.
  
  19:30 – 21:01 Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995) / 35mm / Cinema 2
  Classic about the cute piglet Babe, who, after ending up on a farm, experiences all kinds of exciting adventures to realize his big dream: becoming a sheep herder.
  
  20:00 – 22:09 Gorillas in the Mist (Michael Apted, 1988) / 70mm / Cinema 1
  Sigourney Weaver (Alien) takes on the role of primatologist Dian Fossey, who spent a lot of time in the African jungle for her groundbreaking research into gorillas. The film became famous because of the many scenes with real gorillas, the true main characters of this film.
  
  22:15 – 23:59 Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005) / 35mm / Cinema 2
  Cult documentary about the tragic animal lover Timothy Treadwell, the man who spent thirteen summers with a group of grizzly bears he adored, who would eventually eat him whole.

• To do: create a flipbook

  Have you seen the trend on TikTok? You can make your own flipbook in the permanent exhibition on the ground floor of Eye Filmmuseum. Press start, make a fun movement and have your mini-film immortalized in the Eye Shop.

• Film: Puppies and beyond

  Join us in Cinema 3 for an ongoing programme of short films in which animals play a central role. Zoom in on the beauty and delicate structures of plankton and admire flocks of starlings on the silver screen. Watch a silent movie with cute dogs, watch chickens fight and watch people watch monkeys. With films by Martha Colburn, Jan van IJken and Bert Haanstra, among others.
  
  The following short films are shown in a loop: Famille des jeunes chiens (unknown, 1912, 4’31”), The Art of Flying (Jan van IJken, 2015, 6’25”), Human Nature (Sverre Fredriksen, 2019, 2'), Metabolism (Misho Antadze, 2023, 12’), Zoo (Bert Haanstra, 1962, 12'), The Prejudiced Hierarchist (Conform Cox, 2021, 2’23”), Alles was irgendwie nützt (Pim Zwier, 2013, 7’38”), Some Logic (Rop van Mierlo, 2014, 0’54”), Our Ark (Deniz Tortum & Kathryn Hamilton, 2021, 12’), Planktonium (Jan van IJken, 2021, 3'), Careless Reef Part 4: Marsa Abu Galawa (Gerard Holthuis, 2006, 11’30”), Cat’s Amore (Martha Colburn, 2002, 2’30”), Jolanda 23 (Pim Zwier, 2008, 9’40”).

• To do: Create your own animation

  At the animation tables on the stairs in front of Cinema 1 you can make your own stop-motion film using your own phone and a free downloadable app. Cut out figures, things or shapes, place your cuttings on the light box and your phone on the holder above it. Move your cutouts little by little and take a photo of each step. This creates movement and ultimately a video!
  
  An animated film is a film genre in which drawn figures, clay puppets or other inanimate objects come to life. One of the techniques used for animated films is stop-motion. You make a stop-motion film by taking lots of photos. By playing all the photos (quickly) one after the other, it appears as if the object is moving on its own.

• Food: vegan streetfood

  The Syrian Chefs cook the most delicious dishes from the Levantine Cuisine. They are ready all evening to provide you with delicious pita bread filled with smoky baba ganoush, tabbouleh and crispy falafel.

• To do: film quiz

  How good is your film knowledge? Put yourself and your friends to the test in Cinema 4. The host will ask fiery questions and award well-deserved prizes. The quiz takes place three times during Museumnacht: at 20:15, at 21:30 and at 22:45.