popular culture

A Dutch newsreel including items on the sea aquarium in Scheveningen, the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, and the festive “Vlaggetjesdag” herring event in Flevoland.

Partly staged documentary about post-war life in the Netherlands.

An English filmmaker is commissioned to make a film about the Netherlands but has only seven days to complete it. Helped by a number of friendly Dutch people, he manages to capture the spirit of the country. One of them is stewardess Audrey Hepburn, in her first screen appearance. It was to be her only part in a Dutch film.

Documentary about the inhabitants of Volendam.

Shots of Volendam, Urk, Spakenburg, and Marken were very popular in the early years of film. These villages had much to offer filmically, including their special traditional costumes, picturesque houses, and a charming fishing harbour. In an age where romance and strong traditions were still very much alive, towns like this stirred the imagination. In this film, the Volendammers get a chance to show what they can do.

Reportage about the celebrations for the St. Anthony's Guild in Beek en Donk.

In 1520, for the Saint Anthony Abbot, an altar was dedicated in the St. Martin church in Beek en Donk. It had long been assumed that 1520 was also when the St. Anthony’s Guild had been established. But recent research has shown that a guild already existed in 1490. But because the inhabitants of Beek en Donk in 1920 still believed that the guild dated from 1520, the event was widely commemorated. The film shows the historical pageant, and flags are waved.

Promotional film for the Passage Bioscoop in Amsterdam.

Impression of the harsh winter of 1917 in the Netherlands.