Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
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Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
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The Eye Filmmuseum Collection dates to 1946, when the Nederlands Historisch Filmarchief (Dutch Historical Film Archive) was founded in Amsterdam by David van Staveren, Felix Halverstad, and directors of Filmtheater Kriterion. Following the acquisition of the Filmtheater de Uitkijk archives, the institution was renamed the Nederlands Filmmuseum and gained accommodation within Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum in 1952. The Filmmuseum subsequently moved to the Vondelpark Pavilion in 1975. In 2009, it merged with Holland Film, the Netherlands Institute for Film Education, and the Filmbank, and was renamed the Eye Film Institute Netherlands. A landmark new building on the north bank of the IJ waterway opened on 4 April 2012, designed by Viennese firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects. The current name, Eye Filmmuseum, was adopted with the opening of this building.
The Eye collection encompasses over 60,000 film titles spanning more than 125 years of cinema history. Other key holdings include approximately 90,000 posters, 750,000 photographs and other visual materials, 32,000 film books and magazines, and 220 paper archives from film professionals including filmmakers Frans Zwartjes, Frans Weisz, and Pim de la Parra. Of special significance is the Desmet Collection, comprising over 900 films shown in Dutch cinemas during the 1910s, and the collection of Dutch films — the largest in the world — covering Dutch film history since 1898. The collection also includes approximately 1,500 pre-cinema and film apparatuses, 4,500 magic lantern slides, and 7,000 musical scores. Nitrate films (approximately 12,000 titles, 1896–1950) are stored separately in remote bunkers in North Holland.
The Eye Study, located at the Collection Centre (Asterweg 26, Amsterdam Noord), provides researchers with access to digitized films, DVDs, photographs, posters, film magazines, books, and filmmaker archives. Open Tuesday to Friday, 11:00–16:00, by appointment. A large portion of the collection is searchable via the Collection Eye (CE) online database, and some films are viewable directly on the Eye Film Player streaming platform. Eye Study specialist staff assist researchers in locating specific materials.
Eye is internationally recognized for its film restoration and conservation work, having won multiple prestigious awards for these activities. Notable restorations include formerly lost films such as Beyond the Rocks (1922) and international collaborations on silent film preservation. In 2009, Eye began publishing academic books through the Framing Film series with Amsterdam University Press.