Albert Haanstra (; 31 May 1916 – 23 October 1997) was a Dutch

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s and

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. His documentary ''

Glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

'' (1958) won the

Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

in 1959. His feature film ''

Fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...

'' (1958) was the most visited Dutch film at the time, and has since only been surpassed by ''

Turkish Delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often f ...

'' (1973).

Early life

Albert Haanstra was born on 31 May 1916 in Espelo, a small village near

Holten Holten (Dutch Low Saxon: ''Hooltn'') is a village in the municipality of Rijssen-Holten in the Dutch province of Overijssel. Holten is located in a forested area just south of the Holterberg, a hill, and is part of the Sallandse Heuvelrug Nat ...

, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. His father was Folkert Haanstra, a schoolteacher, and his mother Jansje Schuiveling. Haanstra grew up in the village of

Goor Goor () is a city about 20 km west of Enschede in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It received city rights in 1263. Goor was a separate municipality until 2001, when it became a part of Hof van Twente. Goor was the site of a statue of the r ...

. Because he lived during the poverty of the 1920s, Haanstra grew up with the mindset that in order to get the most out of life, he would need to work hard and live below his means in order to survive. Haanstra's father retired early as a schoolteacher and started his lifelong dream of becoming a painter. Haanstra himself, after realizing teaching didn't interest him, became a painter himself and started experimenting with photography. Hans Schoots,
Haanstra, Albert (1916-1997)
, ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'', 2013. Retrieved on 3 December 2014. Through his fascination, Haanstra became friends with a local cinema owner who eventually would let him see movies for free from the projection room, where Haanstra's desire to dabble in cinema would grow. By collecting scrap equipment that had been thrown away, Haanstra made a homemade projector, and after doing odd jobs around his village to earn money, he bought films from a local drugstore to play them on his projector. He was later accepted into

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

but would subsequently turn it down as he felt that the long years of study would be nothing in comparison to real life experience. During his later employment as a press photographer, Haanstra experimented in

staged photography Staged photography is a form of photography where the photographer, like a director, stages everything in advance to have full control over how his or her idea is visualized. Although the staging of a photograph was already common in the early da ...

, where he would create his first film, Catfish.

Career

Haanstra became a professional

Dutch documentary film A Dutch documentary film is a documentary film made by a director of (partly) Dutch origin. Dutch documentary films are not necessarily bound to Dutch topics or locations in the Netherlands. History Before 1945 The first known Dutch documentary ...

maker in 1947. He won international acclaim with his short documentary '' Spiegel van Holland (Mirror of Holland)'', for which he received the Grand Prix du court métrage at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

of 1951. During the fifties he made six films for Shell, among others ''The Rival World'' (1955) on insects spreading deadly diseases and how to fight them. In 1958 his documentary ''

'', a filming improvisation made in a glass factory, won an Academy Award for

Best Documentary Short Subject This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

. Due to the increasing trend of the poetic mode documentaries following the events of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many of Haanstra's films contained poetic elements that "encourage viewers to see the mystery, wonder, or beauty of aspects of the historical world" by stressing the film's "mood, tone, and effect much more than displays of factual information or acts of rhetorical persuasion." He directed several fiction films. ''

'', a comedy situated in a small Dutch village, is still the Netherlands' second most popular film ever (measured at the box office), only surpassed by Paul Verhoevens ''Turkish Delight''. Abroad however, ''Fanfare'' was hardly noticed, but it was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1st Moscow International Film Festival. After ''

'', he continued his artistry in directing another short film called, ''Zoo''. It was released on the 14th of December, 1962. A film which compared the behavior of animals and humans through his always appreciated humoristic fashion. As always, Haanstra continued to experiment with his cinematic techniques. In ''Zoo'' he experimented with hidden camera filming to capture he true nature of both man and beast. In 1963, ''Zoo'' was nominated for the BAFTA Film Award in Holland for Best Short Film. In several shorts and in long documentaries like ''Alleman / The Human Dutch'' and ''Stem van het water / The Voice of the Water'' Haansta reflected on The Netherlands and its inhabitants. All these films made him one of the most popular filmmakers in the history of Dutch cinema. The documentary '' Alleman'' was seen in the cinema by 20 percent of the total Dutch population. In the seventies and eighties Haanstra addressed a new subject. He made several films about animals. In the long documentary ''

Ape and Super-Ape ''Ape and Super-Ape'' ( nl, Bij de beesten af) is a 1972 Dutch documentary film directed by Bert Haanstra. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film is also notable for featuring extensive documentary footag ...

'' (''Bij de Beesten af'') (1973), for which he collaborated with

Frans de Waal Franciscus Bernardus Maria "Frans" de Waal (born October 29, 1948) is a Dutch primatologist and ethologist. He is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

and

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...

, among others, he compared the behavior of animals and human beings. In total Haanstra received close to a hundred awards. Haanstra was Officer in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

Death

Haanstra died on 23 October 1997 at the age of 81 in a nursing home in the town of

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

in the Netherlands. He died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. After his death the Oeuvre Award, a prestigious Dutch prize for film, (Haanstra had won one himself), was renamed the Bert Haanstra Oeuvre Award.

Filmography

*''De Muiderkring Herleeft'' (1948) *''

Mirror of Holland ''Mirror of Holland'' ( nl, Spiegel van Holland) is a 1950 short Dutch documentary film about The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision ...

'' (1950) *''Nederlandse Beeldhouwkunst tijdens de late Middeleeuwen'' (1951) *'' Panta Rhei'' (1952) *''Dijkbouw'' (1952) *''Ontstaan en Vergaan'' (1954) *''De Opsporing van Aardolie'' (1954) *''De Verkenningsboring'' (1954) *''The Rival World'' (1955) *''En de zee was niet meer'' (1955) *''God Shiva'' (1955) *''Rembrandt, schilder van de mens'' (1957) *''Over glas gesproken'' (1958) *''

'' (1958) *''

'' (1958) *''The Manneken Pis Case'' (1960) *''Delta Phase I'' (1962) *''Zoo'' (1962) *''Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 2: The City - Cars or People?'' (1963) *''

The Human Dutch ''The Human Dutch'' ( nl, Alleman) is a 1963 Dutch documentary film directed by Bert Haanstra, about the daily lives of people in the Netherlands. It was a big success in the Netherlands with almost 1.7 million admissions, the third most succe ...

'' (1963) *''The Voice of the Water'' (1966) *''Evoluon'' (1967) *''Return Ticket to Madrid'' (1967) *''

'' (1972) *'' When the Poppies Bloom Again'' (1975) *''Nationale Parken... Noodzaak'' (1978) *' (1979) *''Nederland'' (1983) *''Vroeger kon je lachen'' (1983) *'' The Family of Chimps'' (1984) *''Kinderen van Ghana'' (1988)

References

External links