Paper short abstract:

Film, let alone the 'humble' home movie, is not widely considered to be an important source in the humanities. On the basis of a selection of home movies made in the Dutch East-Indies de Klerk will make a case for the relevance of moving images – and their limits – in historical and social research.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation will discuss how the work of a filmarchive can contribute to anthropological research. In particular the paper will address the study of early non fiction material and issues of distribution, cultural exchange and specificity, post-colonial discourse and questions around filmform and content in relation to the function of research in a filmarchive. The presentation will draw on the experience of the presenter and his long standing engagement with the Netherlands Filmmuseum.

The Netherlands Filmmuseum is a national archive that collects, preserves, restores, and presents materials belonging to the Dutch cinema culture; it also distributes contemporary films. As the Dutch cinema culture is its domain, the Netherlands Filmmuseum focuses not merely on materials produced in the Netherlands, but also, if not more so, on all those materials that were distributed, exhibited, displayed or that were otherwise related to cinema as business, experience, and art in the Netherlands. In a small production country that means that the majority of its materials is of foreign origin.

'Nico de Klerk is a researcher at the Netherlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. In his work he has focused on, among other things, early documentary, colonial cinema, the programme as an exhibition format, and the notion of national cinema. Results of this work resulted in a series of international Amsterdam Workshops, such as "In the Eye of the Beholder" in 2000, in museum programmes, and in publications. He has edited Nonfiction from the Teens (1994), 'Disorderly order': colours in silent film (1996), Uncharted territory: essays in early nonfiction film (1997), and Raymond Depardon: photographer/filmmaker (2005). He has published articles in various Dutch and international journals.'