Johan van der Keuken

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Johan van der Keuken (4 April 1938, Amsterdam – 7 January 2001, Amsterdam) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker, author, and photographer. In a career that spans 42 years, Keuken produced 55 documentary films, six of which won eight awards. He also wrote nine books on photography and films, his field of interest. For all his efforts, he received seven awards for his life work, and one other for photography.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Van der Keuken was an extremely industrious man. His career spans four decades, from 1955 until his sudden death through cancer in 2001. Even before graduating from the IDHEC film school in Paris (1956-1958), he had already published two books on photography and started to work on his first documentary film. In 1960 he joined Haagse Post, a Dutch newsmagazine, as a film critic but left the following year.

Based outside Amsterdam, he traveled the world, making films and taking pictures on many topics. Most of his work was produced for VPRO, a Dutch television station. Van der Keuken’s work is regarded by many as exceptional, and his premature death is seen as a real loss to the documentary filmmaking industry. [citation needed]

[edit] His Works

[edit] Documentary Films

  • 1957-1960: Produced the film, Paris à l'Aube (10 min.), in collaboration with James Blue and Derry Hall.
  • 1960: Produced the film, Sunday (14 min.), using a "Prosper Dekeukeleire" camera.
  • 1960-1963: Produced the film, A Moment's Silence (10 min.).
  • 1962: Produced four films on Dutch artists: (1) Yrrah (5 min.); (2) Tajiri (10 min.); (3) Opland (12 min.); and (4) Lucebert, Poet-Painter (16 min.).
  • 1963: Produced the film, The Old Lady (25 min.), using a "Prosper Dekeukeleire" camera;
  • 1964: Produced two films, (1) Indonesian Boy (40 min.); and (2) Blind Child (24 min.).
  • 1965: Produced two films, (1) Four Walls (22 min.); and (2) In the Nest with the Rest (8 min.); Co-produced Beppie (38 min.), with Johan van der Keuken, using "Ed van der Elsken" camera.
  • 1966: Produced the film, Herman Slobbe/Blind Child 2 (29 min.).
  • 1967: Produced two films, (1) A Film for Lucebert (22 min.); and (2) Big Ben/Ben Webster in Europe (32 min.).
  • 1968: Produced three films, (1) The Spirit of the Time (42 min.); (2) The Cat (5 min.); and (3) The Street is Free (7 min.); was cameraman for Louis van Gasteren's Report from Biafra.
  • 1970: Produced two films, (1) Velocity: 40-70 (25 min.), using a "Mat van Hensbergen" camera; and (2) Beauty (25 min.); was cameraman for Roeland Kerbosch's Libya in the Rush of Revolution.
  • 1972: Produced two films, (1) Diary (80 min.); and (2) North-South Triptych, Part 1.
  • 1973: Produced six films, (1) Bert Schierbeek/The Door" (11 min.); (2) The White Castle (78 min,); (3) North-South Triptych, Part 2, in collaboration with Bert Schierbeek, (4) Vietnam Opera (11 min.); (5) The Wall (9 min.), and (6) The Reading Lesson (10 min.).
  • 1974: Produced three films, (1) The New Ice Age (80 min.); (2) North-South Triptych', Part 3; and (3) Filmmaker's Holiday (38 min.).
  • 1975: Produced two films, (1) The Palestinians (45 min.); and (2) Springtime (80 min.).
  • 1977: Produced the film, Maarten and the Double Bass (30 min.).
  • 1978: Produced the award-winning film, Flat Jungle (90 min.).
  • 1980: Produced the film, The Master and the Giant (70 min.), in collaboration with Claude Ménard; was cameraman for Babeth Vanloo's Joseph Beuys at the Rotterdam Museum.
  • 1980-1981: Produced the film, The Way South (143 min.).
  • 1981: Produced the film, Iconoclasm/A Storm of Images (85 min.).
  • 1984: Produced two films, (1) Time (45 min.); and (2) Toys (4 min.).
  • 1986: Produced three films, (1) the award-winning, I love $ (145 min.); (2) Wet Feet in Hong Kong (5 min.); and (3) The Unanswered Question (18 min.), using a "Melle van Essen and Niels van 't Hoff" camera.
  • 1988: Produced the award-winning film, The Eye Above the Well (90 min.).
  • 1989: Was cameraman for Noshka van der Lely's The Mountain World Non-World.
  • 1989-1990: Produced the film, The Mask (55 min.).
  • 1990-1991: Produced the award-winning film, Face Value (120 min.).
  • 1992-1993: Produced the film, Brass Unbound (106 min.) in collaboration with Rob Boonzajer Flaes.
  • 1993: Produced the film, Sarajevo Film Festival (14 min.).
  • 1994: Produced three films, (1) Tony's birthday (9 min.); (2) the award-winning, Lucebert, Time and Farewell (52 min); and (3) On Animal Locomotion (15 min.), in collaboration with Willem Breuker.
  • 1996: Produced the film, Amsterdam Global Village (245 min.).
  • 1997: Produced two films, (1) Amsterdam Afterbeat (16 min.); and (2) To Sang Fotostudio (35 min.).
  • 1998: Produced the film, Last Words - My Sister Yoka (1935-1997) (50 min.).
  • 2000: Produced two films, (1) The Long Holiday (145 min); and (2) Temps/Travail (10 min).
  • 2001: Produced the film, For The Time Being (10 min).
  • 2002: Onvoltooid tegenwoordig (Dutch: The Present) opens at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2002.

[edit] Exhibitions

  • 1964: Hosted a photo-exhibition on Sardegna in Amsterdam.
  • 1980: Hosted a photo-exhibition, Photography 1955-1980, at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
  • 1981: Hosted Brother Kodak (is watching you), a projection of 70 photographs in the traveling exhibition, No Comment.
  • 1988: Hosted photo-exhibition, Photographs 1953-1988, at Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands.
  • 1993: Hosted photo-exhibition, Johan van der Keuken: Photographer and Filmmaker, at the Amsterdam Historical Museum.
  • 1997: Hosted photo-exhibition, Body and City, Part One: A Day in La Paz, at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
  • 1998: Hosted exhibitions/installations/films, Body and City, at (1) De Balie, Amsterdam; (ii) Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; (iv) Institut Néerlandais, Paris; (v) Maison de l'Amerique Latine, Paris; (vi) Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris; and (vii) Le Fresnoy National Studio of Performing Arts, (Tourcoing), France.
  • 2000: Hosted (1) two video-installation in the exhibition, Le Temps, Vite at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and (2) Temps/Travail at Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

[edit] Film Retrospectives

  • 1991: Hosted the 1953-1991 film retrospective at Cinemateca Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal.

[edit] Books of Photographs

  • 1955: We are 17, a book of photographs.
  • 1957: Behind Glass, another book of photographs, the text of which was written by Remco Campert.
  • 1963: Paris Mortel, a book of photographs.
  • 1980: Seeing, Watching, Filming, a book of photographs, writings on film, and interviews in Amsterdam.
  • 1987: Abenteuer eines Auges (Adventures of an Eye), a book of photographs, writings on film and interviews at Hamburg, Germany.
  • 1991: After Image, a book of photographs.
  • 1998: Aventures d'un regard, a book of photographs, films, writings and interviews, edited in collaboration with François Albéra, Cahiers du Cinéma, Paris, France.
  • 2000: The Lucid Eye, a book of photographs.
  • 2001: Bewogen Beelden, a book of photographs and text.

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • 1982: Hosted first film concert with The Willem Breuker Collective in the series, Willem Breuker meets Johan van der Keuken.
  • 1997: Conducted a lecture and presentation on Film on Films, with François Albéra, Documenta X, Kassel, Germany.

[edit] Awards

  • 1986: Awarded the Josef von Sternberg Prize, Mannheim, Germany, for the film, I love $ (145 min.).
  • 1988: Awarded the Grand Prix, Brussels Film Festival, Belgium, for the film, The Eye Above the Well (90 min.).
  • 1988: Received (1) the Dutch Cultural Award for his lifetime work; and (2) the Dutch Photography Award.
  • 1990-1991: Awarded the Dutch Press Prize, Netherlands, for the film, Face Value (120 min.).
  • 1994: Awarded the Grand Prix, 5e Biennale Internationale du Film sur l'Art, Paris, France, for the film, Lucebert, Time and Farewell (52 min.).
  • 1996: Awarded three prizes (1) the Grolsch Prize at the Dutch Film Festival, Netherlands; (2) first prize at the Munich Festival, Germany; and (3) Award of the Art House Cinemas, France, for the film, Amsterdam Global Village (245 min.).
  • 2000: Awarded (1) Silver Spire Award; (2) San Francisco International Film Festival Ecumenical Award of the Christian Churches; and (3) International Filmfestival , Berlin, Germany; Received special honorary award at the Documentary Filmfestival, Thessaloniki, Greece; Received the Bert Haanstra Award 2000, Amsterdam, Netherlands, for lifetime-achievement.

[edit] External links