Helen van Dongen

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Helen van Dongen
Born Helene van Dongen[1]
(1909-01-05)January 5, 1909
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Died September 28, 2006(2006-09-28)
Brattleboro, Vermont, USA
Other names Helen Durant
Occupation Film editor
Years active 1927-1950
Spouse(s) Joris Ivens (1944-?)
Kenneth Durant (1950-72)

Helen van Dongen (January 5, 1909 - September 28, 2006) was a pioneering editor of documentary films who was active from about 1925-1950.[2] She collaborated with filmmaker Joris Ivens from 1925 to 1940, made several independent documentaries, and edited two of Robert Flaherty's films before retiring from filmmaking in her 40s.

Life and career

Born in Amsterdam, van Dongen met Joris Ivens in her teens and eventually became his key collaborator.[2] She worked on Ivens' first films The Bridge (1928) and Rain (1929).[3] In the 1930s she was credited as the editor of Ivens' films including Nieuwe Gronden (1934), Misère au Borinage (1934), The Spanish Earth (1937), and The 400 Million (1939). Bob Mastrangelo has written that these four films "earned Ivens a worldwide reputation, and solidified van Dongen's status as one of the most important editors of her generation."[2] He suggests that van Dongen's most important credit was as the editor of The Spanish Earth (1937), Ivens' film about the Spanish Civil War that was narrated by Ernest Hemingway: "...almost 70 years later it remains a powerful testament to the devastating effects of civil war. The intensity of van Dongen's editing is an important factor in the film's impact, particularly in the way it contrasts the horrors of war with the beauty of the Spanish countryside."[2] Her final film with Ivens was Power and the Land (1940). Van Dongen and Ivens were briefly married in the mid-1940s, after their filmmaking collaboration had ended.[2]

In 1941 van Dongen edited Robert Flaherty's film, The Land (1942),[4] and she co-produced and edited his film Louisiana Story (1948).[2] Jon Lupo described their collaboration as follows: "Though both The Land and Louisiana Story are prime examples of Flaherty's filmmaking sensibility, much of the beauty and emotional gravity of the films is owed to Van Dongen's delicately focused sound and film editing."[5] Van Dongen kept a diary during her work on Louisiana Story that she later published,[6] and that is considered an important record both of the film and of Flaherty's career.[7]

Van Dongen also produced several films on her own. Her 1937 film, Spain in Flames a compilation of Spanish Civil War newsreel footage that was narrated by John Dos Passos.[2][3] In 1943, she made the compilation film Russians at War using Soviet newsreel footage; the film was made for the U.S State Department.[1] Van Dongen's personal favorite among her independent films was News Review No. 2 (1944–45), which has apparently been lost; it was a compilation film of Second World War combat footage.[8] Her final film was Of Human Rights (1950), which she produced, directed, and edited; the film was made for The United Nations to celebrate The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[2]

In 1950, van Dongen married Kenneth Durant, and retired from filmmaking.[5] The two worked together on a study of the origin and evolution of the Adirondack guideboat. After Durant's death in 1972 van Dongen continued the work, which was published in 1980.[9][10]

Selected filmography

This filmography is based on the comprehensive filmography posted by Hans Schoots.[11] The director of each film is indicated in parenthesis.

  • 1931 Philips Radio (Ivens): Co-editor
  • 1933 Nieuwe Gronden (Ivens): Editor
  • 1934 Misère au Borinage (Ivens/Storck): Editor (Note: For the subsequent Russian-language version)
  • 1934 Daily Life (Richter): Editor
  • 1936 Spain in Flames: Editor, Producer
  • 1937 The Spanish Earth (Ivens): Editor
  • 1939 The 400 Million (Ivens): Editor
  • 1939 Pete-Roleum and His Cousins (Losey): Editor
  • 1941 Power and the Land (Ivens): Editor
  • 1942 The Land (Flaherty): Editor
  • 1943 Peoples of Indonesia: Editor, director
  • 1944 Know Your Enemy: Japan: Co-editor
  • 1948 Louisiana Story (Flaherty): Editor
  • 1950 Of Human Rights: Director, producer, editor

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Schoots, Hans (2000). Living Dangerously: A Biography of Joris Ivens. Amsterdam University Press. p. 171. ISBN 90-5356-433-0. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Mastrangelo, Bob (10 November 2006). "Helen van Dongen Obituary". The Guardian. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nornes, Abé Mark (June 25, 2001). "Interview with Helen van Dongen". Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. 
  4. ↑ Crittenden, Roger (1995). Film and Video Editing. Routledge. p. 158. ISBN 1-85713-011-1. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lupo, Jon (2000). "Helen van Dongen". In Pendergast, Tom; Pendergast, Sara. International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers, Edition 4. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-449-8. 
  6. ↑ Durant, Helen; Barsam, Richard (1998). Orbanz, Eva; Bandy, Mary Lea, eds. Filming Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story: The Helen Van Dongen Diary. Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek. ISBN 978-0-8109-6194-4. OCLC 40221894.  Distributed by the Harry N. Abrams Co..
  7. ↑ Rotha, Paul (1983). Ruby, Jay, ed. Robert J Flaherty : a biography. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-8122-7887-3. 
  8. ↑ Achtenberg, Ben; van Dongen, Helen (Winter, 1976-1977). "Helen van Dongen: An Interview". Film Quarterly 30 (2): 46–57. JSTOR 1211761. "Van Dongen regards News Review No. 2 (1944-45) as the most successful of the wartime films she directed and edited. It was produced by Philip Dunn for the OWI [Office of War Information] , and had narration by Frances and Albert Hackett. Compiled from all the footage coming in from combat cameramen on all battle fronts, the film communicated the unity of human struggle" 
  9. ↑ "Helen von Dongen Durant". The Barre Montpelier Times Argus. October 1, 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-10-13. 
  10. ↑ Durant, Kenneth and Helen (1980). Adirondack Guide-Boat. International Marine Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87742-125-2. 
  11. ↑ Schoots, Hans (2007). "Filmography Helen van Dongen (1909-2006)". Archived from the original on 2010-04-18. 
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