(George) Christiaan Slieker (1861–1945) was a Dutch film exhibitor in the early days of cinematography.
Who's Who of Victorian Cinema He grew up in a

Frisia Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...

n family of travelling showpeople. In the spring of 1896 he bought a

cinematograph Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the ...

produced by H.O. Foersterling & Co and gave his first film show in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

on 15 July 1896. He began a traveling film show called the ''Grand Théatre Edison''. During the show in Park Tivoli in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

the first Dutch movie was shown, '' Gestoorde hengelaar'' by M.H. Laddé. In 2013 the movie house in

was renamed ''Slieker Film'' in his honour, after it moved to the Wilhelminaplein where Slieker first showed his films. SliekerAd.gif, Advertisement for the traveling cinema of Christiaan Slieker in the ''Utrechtsch Dagblad'' SliekerCinema.gif, Christiaan Slieker's traveling cinema ''Grand Théatre Edison'' in Park Tivoli

References

1861 births 1945 deaths Dutch people of Frisian descent {{netherlands-bio-stub