The 22nd of October we celebrated the European premiere of our restoration of Edgar Ulmer’s film noir musical CLUB HAVANA (1945) at the Cinematek in Brussels.
On the photos, GDI director Egbert Barten discusses the programme with the projectionist and introduces the GDI to the Brussels audience. ( see further )
SEE! Olga’s head (prop used in TURKISH DELIGHT) SEE! A ‘Tippi’ Hedren signed pigeon (prop used in THE BIRDS) WALK PAST! A corridor long cabinet filled with posters from Alfred Hitchcock, Bertrand Tavernier and Fons Rademakers films.SEE! Talk of the Town/Spraakmakende Film Makers. Exhibition in the Geoffrey Donald Institute, last two weeks, closing April 6, 2019.
Starting from the 9th of December, the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute presents the exhibition Tot de laatste akte! (Until the last reel!). With this exhibition, the film institute in Noord-Scharwoude puts a spotlight on a special group of film lovers: the passionate private collectors of 16mm and 35mm film.
There are about fifty of these collectors left in The Netherlands; it’s a small world. Captivated by the magic of analogue film, they have saved countless films, projectors, posters, photographs and documentation from destruction. The medium has not only been under threat from vinegar syndrome and fire risk, but also from the distributors themselves. For years, it was the norm in The Netherlands to destroy (‘chop’) the films after their cinema run. Since the digitalisation of all Dutch film theatres and cinemas in 2012, the importance of their collections has therefore only increased.
The extraordinary collections of these private collectors will be shown to a large audience for the first time by the GDI. Numerous objects will be on display at the exhibition: cameras, projectors, photographs, articles and of course – especially – film. The exhibition will be accompanied by the book Tot de laatste akte! Film journalist Barend de Voogd was asked by GDI to interview nineteen private collectors about their life stories and their unique relationship with film. Photographer Marjolein Ansink caught the collectors in pictures.
The exhibition Tot de laatste akte! is open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., and entrance is free. The GDI is closed from Christmas day until Tuesday, the 2nd of January, 2018. The book can be ordered for € 29,90 (plus and additional € 8,30 for shipping), from info@donaldsoninstituut.nl and will be for sale at the GDI. The GDI is located at Dorpsstraat 612 in Noord-Scharwoude.
Our new poster and Marquee, adorning the institute in between exhibitions (GDI: Exhibitions -Film shows – Study Centre), another glorious design by Piet Schreuders
Bettie Serveert singer Carol van Dyk posing with her selfmade dress she wore all of last succesful tournand also in the ‘Lovesick’ vid (youtube). The dress is on display in our summer exhibition dealing with Bettie Serveert, a Dutch indierock band that came to instant international fame with their first CD ‘Palomine’ and has been making music since 1991. The Betties visited GDI last Friday to have a look at the exhibits, see the GDI-film CREATURE FROM UNDER THE BRIDGE (2016) on the big screen and watch a two hour Bettie-compilation doc GDI volunteer Andre den Hartigh put together last month. The docu will be shown in two screenings Friday July 28 and Friday August 4, both screenings at 20.00. The exhibit will be accessible until August 9 Mondays and Wednesdays (NO Saturdays!) 14-17.00 (Photo courtesy of Rob van Dijk)
‘Everything breathes CINEMA here’ commented Gerda Peters on her first visit tot the GDI last Sunday. Gerda is the wife of film lecturer and festival programmer Harry Peters who will be donating his massive documentation archive to GDI later in the year.
Upon their visit last Sunday, they already brought Harry’s extensive collection of film posters designed by the French Maitre de l’Affiche René Ferracci (1927-1982). Among these a copy of GARDE A VUE signed by Ferracci shortly before his demise. Together with the Ferracci posters already in our collection we now have some 200 of the approximately 1200 film poster Ferracci designed in his life.
One of the most famous comic duos in film history was Laurel and Hardy. The duo made over one hundred films, and for several decades their popularity was unrivalled. Starting in the last week of the summer holidays, the exhibition “Laurel and Hardy in Europe” can be seen in the Donaldson Institute in Noord-Scharwoude. Entry is free.
From 1927 to 1955, the British Stan Laurel (1890 – 1965) and the American Oliver Hardy (1892 – 1957) were one of the most famous duos in film history. They entertained hundreds of millions with their slapstick films, first in the cinema and later on TV. The exhibition gives an impression of how their films were introduced and promoted in Europe. “Laurel and Hardy in Europe” is mainly composed of original material from three private collections. Particular attention is given to the Amstelveen film distributor, Express Film. After the war, right up to the late 1980s, the company made it possible for a number of Laurel and Hardy films to be shown in cinemas in the Netherlands. The duo Laurel and Hardy had many fans. The exhibition displays items from the first fan club and from the first European Laurel and Hardy convention in Paris in 1936.
top pieces
Included in the top pieces are two life-like Laurel and Hardy dolls, wearing pyjamas that were worn by Laurel and Hardy during the making of the film Big Noise (1944) and a unique poster from 1936 from the Laurel and Hardy compilation film ‘Hot Water’ or ‘In de penarie’, as it was known in the Netherlands. Other special items are signed portraits, correspondence, film posters, film photographs and merchandise in the form of one of the first salt and pepper sets of ‘the guys’. On a so-called viewing table, visitors can compare a flammable and inflammable version of a Laurel and Hardy film.
The free Stan and Ollie exhibition in the Donaldson Institute is open from the last week of the summer holidays, Saturday 20th August. The exhibition “Laurel and Hardy in Europe” is open to visitors every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 14:00 to 17:00. Entry is free. The last day is Saturday, 20th January 2017. The exhibition can be visited by appointment at other times.
The Geoffrey Donaldson Institute is located at Dorpsstraat 612 in Noord-Scharwoude. The institute is named after the Australian Geoffrey Donaldson, who lived in the Netherlands and was the first film historian of the Netherlands. The GDI is a private initiative and exists without government grants.
Last Friday in Noord-Scharwoude, the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute (GDI) shot scenes for a short movie. A professional film crew filmed on the corner near the building that houses the GDI. Filming took place on the Dorpsstraat, in front of the Primera shop and in the vicinity of the Jacob Jong bridge across the Achterburggracht. The movie stars ‘Green Man’ Jan Jansen who has not been heard of since his last scenes were shot on Friday evening.
Director Emiel de Jong films Green Man Jan Jansen. Photo: Eddy Hooiveld
On Friday morning 15th July, twenty people gathered in the GDI to make a short film. Among them, actresses, actors and the film crew. It took a great deal of preparation and waiting, but director Emiel de Jong is very happy with the sets and the performances given by the actors. The film, entitled ‘The Creature from under the Bridge’, is expected to premiere on 25 September during the ‘Verhalen Halen’ event in Langedijk. Egbert Barten says of the film: ‘This short movie is what is referred to in the film world as a spoof, a parody of – in this case – fifties horror flicks’.
The Green Man – who stands more than two metres tall – is inspired by the fifties classic ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ – an ominous fantasy figure created by the Groningen sculptor F.G. Windt in 1985. The Green Man was last seen on Friday night in the water beneath the Jacob Jong bridge on the Willem de Zwijgerstraat.
The film stars various people from Noord-Scharwoude, including Joyce Wouters as the investigator, Jos Kreuk as the professor, Hennie Neesen and Marjan Glas as the camping scientists, Jeroen Haesenbos and Maarten Neesen as waiters, Rick Ooteman as a stormtrooper, Leo Glas as Elvis Presley and Bart Vermeer from Belgium as the director.
Bart Vermeer, Joyce Wouters and The Green Man Jan Jansen. Photo: Eddy Hooiveld
The GDI promotes research into film production and screenings and manages an extensive collection of films. The exhibition space of the GDI is open to visitors every Monday and Wednesday between 14.00 and 17.00 hrs and entry is free. Other times can be arranged by appointment. The Geoffrey Donaldson Institute operates out of Dorpsstraat 612 in Noord-Scharwoude. The GDI is a private initiative with no government subsidy.
From the 20th of August the new exhibition Laurel and Hardy in Europe is on display.
Kinox projector uit ca 1914; een van de oudste filmprojectoren voor thuisbioscoop-gebruik. Tussen 1914 en 1922 werden ongeveer 3000 exemplaren van de Kinox gemaakt in de filmfabriek van Heinrich Ernemann te Dresden. Verworven door het GDI in 2015 (Collectie Linders). Foto Eddy Hooiveld.