H.W. Metman

Biography

H.W. Metman was a photographer based in Enschede who began working as a cameraman for Filmfabriek Hollandia in 1913. Together with cameraman Feiko Boersma, who had worked for Filmfabriek F.A. Nöggerath, he shot for various Hollandia feature films; Metman often filmed the exterior scenes, while Boersma filmed in the studio.

In 1916, he briefly moved to Willy Mullens’ production company as one of the cameramen on Mullens’ Leger- en vlootfilm. Metman worked for Hollandia until 1919.

After a short stay in Munich with Weiss-Blau-Film, Metman made a series of short feature films during the Internationale Kino-Tentoonstelling in Amsterdam in 1920. In one of these films, the famous Danish actress Asta Nielsen acted for his camera.

In 1921, Metman travelled to his birthplace, the Dutch East Indies, to film a number of documentaries for the Nationale Filmfabriek. After the Nationale Filmfabriek went bankrupt, Metman returned to the Netherlands and worked as a cameraman for e.g. De Jantjes, Mooi Juultje van Volendam, and Oranje Hein.

In the late 1920s, Metman began working for W.A. MacLean’s Filmfabriek Holland, where he would remain for seven years.

Metman was the favourite cameraman of actress Annie Bos. He filmed her from the beginning of her career at Hollandia until her last starring role in Mooi Juultje van Volendam.