A Dutch documentary film is a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

made by a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

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 The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee''), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inla ...

. 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 Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are '' A Tale of the Wind'', ''The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', '' Misèr ...

. 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 ''The Spanish Earth'' is a 1937 anti-fascist film made during the Spanish Civil War in support of the democratically elected Republicans, whose forces included a wide range from the political left like communists, socialists, anarchists, to mode ...

'' (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 2nd 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 The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. 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 Heddy Honigmann (1 October 1951 – 21 May 2022) was a Peruvian-born Dutch film director of fictional and documentary films. Early life and education Honigmann was born on 1 October 1951 in Lima, Peru, to Jewish refugees. Her mother, Sarah Pa ...

, 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 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

, the world's largest documentary film festival held annually in Amsterdam. *

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

, an annual film festival held in Utrecht. Dutch film productions are exhibited, including documentaries. *

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, 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 An ethnographic film is a non-fiction film, often similar to a documentary film, historically shot by Western filmmakers and dealing with non-Western people, and sometimes associated with anthropology. Definitions of the term are not definitive. ...

. * Movies that matter Festival is an annual film festival, emphasizing on documentary films about human rights.

List of Dutch documentary films

Notes and references

{{Reflist

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 Dutch

Documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...