David van Staveren

Biography

The Social Democrat politician David van Staveren was originally a teacher in Utrecht. In 1918, he was appointed as the first Director of the Haagse Schoolbioscoop. A year later, he joined the board of the Nederlandsch Centraal Filmarchief. As a staunch supporter of film’s educational uses, Van Staveren advocated for a separate kind of cinema for education. His Haagse Schoolbioscoop was also imitated in other cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Arnhem, and Leiden.

In 1925, Van Staveren, together with the doctors Van Gils and J.A. Putto, provided the screenplay for Willy Mullens' film about tuberculosis, Achter de Wolken schijnt de Zon.

When the Centrale Commissie voor de Filmkeuring was established in early 1928, Van Staveren was its first Chairman. For twenty years, he remained the chief film inspector in the Netherlands. Van Staveren generally tended not to censor, but saw censorship above all as a necessary evil.

After the war, Van Staveren spent several years as the director of the Haagse Instituut voor Volksontwikkeling (HIVO). He also contributed to the radio programme ‘Aetherform’ for the Dutch broadcaster VARA.