A Dutch documentary film is a documentary film made by a director of (partly) Dutch origin. Dutch documentary films are not necessarily bound to Dutch topics or locations in the Netherlands.
History
Before 1945 The short film Inhuldiging Koningin Wilhelmina te Amsterdam was made in 1898 and is the oldest surviving Dutch film. The first known Dutch documentary was made in 1916 by Johann Vierboom. The film Storm en noodweer in Nederland shows the 1916 flood disaster at the coasts of the Zuiderzee. Another documentary film of this era is Holland Neutraal: De leger- en vlootfilm (1917) by Willy Mullens. One of the most famous Dutch documentary film directors is Joris Ivens. Ivens started making his own films in 1928. The first was an avant-garde look at a Rotterdam bridge, The Bridge (De brug, 1928). His later films were more realistic, socially concerned and polemical. The Spanish Earth (1937) is one of his most famous films. In order to make internationally oriented documentaries, Ivens travelled to countries such as the Soviet Union, Spain, China, Australia and the United States.
1945-1965 After the Second World War, films of the acclaimed documentary film directors Bert Haanstra and Herman van der Horst dominated Dutch cinema. Their work is internationally known as the ‘Dutch Documentary School’. A feature of the documentary films of this era is the use of human beings as a metaphor. Van der Horst and Haanstra both won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.
Van der Horst's most famous movie is Faja Lobbi (1960), while Haanstra gained international fame for his renowned documentary Alleman (The Human Dutch, 1963). Other directors of the Dutch Documentary School are Charles Huguenot van der Linden, and John Fernhout.
After 1965 After the era of the Dutch Documentary School, Dutch documentaries lost their uniformity. Instead of forming a group, joining forces and sharing stylistic trademarks, filmmakers mostly worked on independent projects or projects for television networks. Contemporary documentary directors have produced a wide variety of works. Contemporary directors with international successes are Jos de Putter, Heddy Honigmann, Johan van der Keuken and Leonard Retel Helmrich. In the late 20th century, documentary films are mainly shown on Dutch television networks, although some cinemas and art houses show Dutch documentary films. Nowadays, internet provides worldwide access to Dutch documentary films displayed online.
Dutch organizations regarding documentary films
Dutch funds The Netherlands Film Fund offers financial support to develop, actualize and distribute documentary film productions, designated for cinema. Mediafonds offers subsidy for the development and production of, among other things, documentary films by public broadcasting.
Online broadcasting Holland Doc 24 is a Dutch digital documentary channel. The channel is continuously broadcasting sections of multiple public broadcasting channels, including the programs VPRO's Import, Zembla, Tegenlicht, NCRV Dokument, Profiel, Reporter and Het uur van de Wolf.
The Docsonline Foundation is an independent, Dutch non-profit organization with a mission to support professional documentary makers financially by exposing their work on a wide international scale to a paying audience. The foundation organizes a documentary on-demand website which provides a collection of over 400 documentary films.
Film festivals The following Dutch film festivals are known to show (Dutch) documentary films: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the world's largest documentary film festival held annually in Amsterdam. Netherlands Film Festival, an annual film festival held in Utrecht. Dutch film productions are exhibited, including documentaries. International Film Festival Rotterdam, an annual film festival held in Rotterdam Beeld voor Beeld festival in Amsterdam is an annual documentary film festival with a main focus on ethnographic film. Movies that matter Festival is an annual film festival, emphasizing on documentary films about human rights.
List of Dutch documentary films
title director year Unknown Brood Dennis Alink 2016 Are All Men Pedophiles? Jan-Willem Breure 2012 A philosopher for all seasons Benny Brunner 1991 Across the border Saskia Vredeveld 1999 Al nakba Benny Brunner 1997 Andre Hazes, Zij gelooft in mij John Appel 1999 Ave Maria Nouchka van Brakel 2006 Between heaven and hell Joost Seelen 2002 Birthplace Unknown Karin Junger 1988 Boys Menna Laura Meijer 2005 Bram Joost Verheij 1993 Broken Silence Eline Flipse 1996 Cannot run away Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 1988 Child of the commune Maroesja Perizonius 2004 Crossroads Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 1997 Dana Lixenberg, thru Dutch eyes Pieter van der Houwen 1999 Daughters of the Nile Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 1982 De brug Joris Ivens 1928 Deacon of Death Jan van den Berg 2004 Democracy's dilemma Ijsbrand van Veelen & Dorothee Forma 2007 Desi Maria Ramos 2000 Duende Ramon Gieling 1986 Dutch touch Ulrike Helmer 2006 Electronic curtain Walther Grotenhuis 1997 En passant Mirjam Boelsums & Lony Scharenborg 2003 Faja Lobbi Herman van der Horst 1960 Fatal reaction Bombay Marijke Jongbloed 1998 Fatal reaction Moscow Marijke Jongbloed 2000 Fatal reaction New York Marijke Jongbloed 1996 Fatal reaction Singapore Marijke Jongbloed 1996 Finding courage Joop van Wijk 2004 First Kill Coco Schrijber 2001 Fokking hell! Peter ter Velde, Eric Feijten & Hans Stakelbeek 2010 Food is waste Rob van Hattum 2007 Grito de piedra Ton van Zantvoort 2006 Hans: Het Leven Voor De Dood Louis van Gasteren 1983 Holland neutraal, de leger- en vlootfilm Willy Mullens 1917 I'm Never Afraid! Willem Baptist 2010 In a white man's land Kim Landstra 2000 It is no dream Benny Brunner & Joseph Rochlitz 2002 Isingiro Hospital Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 1992 Juggernaut Rob Das 2003 Lockerbie Revisited Gideon Levy 2005 Lomax the Songhunter Rogier Kappers 2005 Grenzeloze Liefde - Made in Africa Puck de Leeuw 1999 Grenzeloze Liefde - Made in Japan Puck de Leeuw 1996 Lust for gold Joost Kraanen 1990 Made in China Eline Flipse 2005 Mama Calle Arjanne Laan 1990 Miss interpreted, Marlene Dumas Rudolf Everhuis & Joost Verheij 1997 My beloved country Saskia Vredeveld 1991 Nostalgia for death Ramon Gieling 1992 On the threshold of oblivion Tom Verheul 2003 Pool Mirjam Boelsums & Lony Scharenborg 1999 Prison blues Saskia Vredeveld 2002 Procedure 769, witness to an execution Jaap van Hoewijk 1995 Punk, forever Alfred de Boer 1996 Purple hearts VPRO 2004 Rex Gildo, the fall of a schmalz king Hans Heijnen 2003 Rock 'n roll junkie Eilander, v.d. Bosch, v.d. Lee & v.d. Sterre 1994 Romania, the taming of intellectuals Benny Brunner 1990 Rouch's gang Joost Verheij 1998 Sark, small world Joost Seelen 2002 Selfportrait, Roger Ballen Sasia Vredeveld 2002 Smile and wave Marijke Jongbloed 2003 Sport, a mental issue Lies Niezen 2000Serengeti Symphony Hugo van Lawick 1998Storm en noodweer in Nederland Johann Vierboom 1916 Sunny spells Ruud Monster 1987 Tabee toean Tom Verheul 1995 That paradise will be mine Merel Beernink 2005 The concrete curtain Benny Brunner 2005 The daily nation Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 2000 The factory Hillie Molenaar & Joop van Wijk 1981 The forgery Arjanne Laan 2001 The Human Dutch Bert Haanstra 1963 The making of a new empire Jos de Putter 1999 The new silver Alexandra Jansse 2005 The price of cotton Karin Junger 2005 The return Joost Verheij 1990 The seventh million Benny Brunner 1995 The Spanish Earth Joris Ivens 1937 The truth according to Wikipedia Ijsbrand van Veelen 2008 The tunnel and other lies Vuk Janic 2005 The wall Benny Brunner 2003 The war on drugs VPRO 2003 Treatment for traitors Ike Bertels 1983 Valley of sighs Carin Goeijers 2004 Velo negro Arjanne Laan 1996 Voices of Bam Aliona v.d. Horst & Maasja Ooms 2006 Water and fire Joost Seelen 1998 Year 1, Alan Reeve after thirty years of imprisonment Joost Seelen 1993
See also Cinema of the Netherlands Documentary film
Notes and references
External links Dutch directors guild association for all Dutch TV and film directors. Documentary producers Netherlands association for acknowledged large and medium-sized Dutch documentary producers. Article by Dutch documentary film maker Jos de Putter (2011) Nederlandse documentaires in een tijd van schaarste. Mediafonds magazine. Netherlands Film Fund official page