Documentary School
The Documentary film of the Netherlands has long been renowned world wide. The most prominent Dutch directors, especially those who started their careers before World War II, came from a documentary background, for instance Joris Ivens and Bert Haanstra. Since the early 1970s, however, documentary production aimed at a theatrical release has declined, perhaps due to a shift towards television documentary.
In the years directly following the war, most effort was given to the reconstruction of the country; film was not a priority. In the late 1950s the Dutch film industry professionalized. The Nederlands Film Fund (Dutch) (Dutch Film Fund) was established in 1957, the Nederlandse Filmacademie (Dutch) (Dutch Film Academy) in 1958. Documentary filmer Bert Haanstra made his first fiction film, Fanfare, in 1958. Even though the film was a big success, this success was only incidental. Dutch cinema did temporarily provide a sound of its own in this period, in the form of what is now considered to be the "Dutch documentary tradition" or "Dutch documentary school". Headed by Haanstra, who won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject with 1959's Glass and also won prizes in Berlin and Cannes, the movement also included Herman van der Horst, who won a Golden Bear for Best Documentary and John Fernhout, who's Sky Over Holland won a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject in 1968.
Documentaries still play an important part in Dutch film industry. The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, held annually in November, is considered one of the largest documentary film festivals in the world. Famous documentary directors pre- and postdating the unofficial Documentary School include Joris Ivens, Johan van der Keuken and Jos de Putter. Ivens won a César Award and a Golden Lion, as well as a career achievement award at the Venice Film Festival. Jos de Putter is now head of the Documentary film department of the VPRO, one of the main Dutch public television stations.
Read more about this topic: Cinema Of The Netherlands
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