Louis Alphonse van Gasteren (20 November 1922 – 10 May 2016) was a Dutch film director, film producer, and artist. He was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. He is the son of actor Louis van Gasteren Sr. and singer Elise Menagé Challa, and the brother of actress Josephine van Gasteren.

Biography

Van Gasteren trained as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

. He worked for the Dutch Polygoon newsreel company in Haarlem,

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 ...

in 1949. In 1951 he started his own film production company ''Spectrum Film''. He made his debut with ''Brown Gold'', a film about cocoa and chocolate, in 1952. In 1983 Van Gasteren won the Dutch Film Critics Award for best documentary as well as the Golden Calf for best picture for '' Hans: Het Leven Voor De Dood'' (''Hans, Life Before Death''). He received the Golden Calf a second time in 2003 for his documentary '' The Price of Survival''. Van Gasteren was a visiting professor in the United States at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only building designed primarily by Le Corbusier in the United States—he contributed to the design of the United Nations Secretariat Building—a ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Van Gasteren lived in Amsterdam and was married to Joke Meerman. At the end of his life he was the oldest active filmmaker in the Netherlands.

Walter Oettinger

During the Second World War Van Gasteren was convicted to four years for killing Walter Oettinger, a German Jew in hiding. After the war Van Gasteren was pardoned, but when he claimed a special pension for resistance fighters, this was denied on the grounds that the killing of Oettinger had not been an act of resistance.Dutch Blogger Can Invoke Freedom of the Press
''Media Report'', February 7th, 2008

Filmography

A partial list: * 1952 – ''Bruin goud'' (Brown Gold) – Documentary about cocoa and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, shot on location in Ghana and the Netherlands, directed by Theo van Haren Noman ( nl). 90 min * 1954 – ''Railplan 68'' (Rail Plan 68) – Documentary about the nightly replacement of tram rails on the

Leidseplein Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, Ma ...

in Amsterdam, 15 min * 1955 – ''Vliegende schotels geland'' (Flying saucers landed) – Surprising commercial for Albert Heyn's Boffie Coffee, run as film, 4 min * 1960 – ''Stranding'' (Stranded) – Thriller, An international gang of bank-robbers escape to Ecuador on the ship, but after a shipwreck become stranded on the island of Terschelling, 90 min * 1960 – ''Een nieuw dorp op nieuw land'' (A new village on new land) – Documentary about design, construction and first inhabitants of the village of

Nagele Nagele is a village in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 10 km south of Emmeloord. History Nagele was designed by the architectural team "De 8" between 1948 and 1954. The ...

in the newly reclaimed northeast, 25 min * 1961 – ''Alle vogels hebben nesten'' (All Birds Have Nests) – Documentary on the system-building as a result of the post-war housing shortage. 25 min. * 1962 – ''Het huis'' (The House) - Short film concerning a house which is demolished at the same time it is built, conceived by intercutting two time periods. No dialogue. 32 min. * 1963 – ''Mayday'' - Documentary about the successes and failures of rescues at sea. 20 min. * 1964 – ''Er is telefoon voor u'' (There's a Phone-call for You) - Documentary about the effects of the telephone in the Netherlands. 46 min. * 1964 – ''Jazz and Poetry'', 14 min. * 1965 – ''Out of My Skull'' – Early Dutch experimental film, made during a stay as visiting professor at

. 15 min. * 1968 – ''Report from Biafra'' - Documentary concerning the

Biafran War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

. 50 min. * 1969 – '' Begrijpt U Nu Waarom Ik Huil?'' (''Now Do You Get It Why I Am Crying?'') – A therapeutic

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

-session with a former inmate of a

German concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. 62 min. * 1971 – ''Report from Europe'' - Film concerning the structure of the European community * 1973 – ''On ne sait pas'' – Portrait of a French country woman. 13 min * 1974 – ''Multinationals'' – Documentary concerning the role of multinational ventures * 1975 – ''Do You Get It no.2'' – Second of a series concerning perception and interpretation. Louis analyzes film footage of a policeman directing traffic and construction workers with shovels who try to make themselves immortal by their actions when they notice the presence of the camera. 13 min. * 1975 - ''Corbeddu'' – The first of three films about Sardinia. Can the bandit Corbeddu be regarded as the Robin Hood of Sardinia? 72 min * 1976 – ''Salude e libertade'' – History and culture of Sardinia. 52 min. * 1980 – ''Wirbula flow forms'' – Film concerning the water art of John Wilks. 10 min. * 1983 – '' Hans: Het Leven Voor De Dood'' (Hans, Life Before Death) – A documentary/feature on the life of the young composer Hans van Sweeden and those who knew him intimately. Won Golden Calf and Dutch Critics Award in 1983. 155 min. * 1989 – ''Een zaak van niveau'' (A Matter of Level) – 1000 years of Dutch water management and hydro civil engineering. Golden Camera Award Chicago, Sony Video Award, Film Prize from Amsterdam fund for art, Special Commendation Prix Futura Berlin. 56 min. *1994 – ''Why Do Pigeons Home?'' – An experiment with mobile pigeon lofts, registered at the campus of the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. 30 min. * 1997 – ''Beyond Words'' - Interview with Indian master

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...

, shot in 1967. 38 min. * 2002 – ''In een Japanese stroomversnelling'' – (In Japanese Rapids) a film concerning the role of Dutch engineers in Japan in the 19th century. 85 min. * 2003 – '' The Price of Survival'' (''De prijs van overleven'') – A follow up of the 1969 film ''Do You Understand Now Why I Cry?'', about the children of the survivors 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 opposing ...

. 56 min. * 2005 – ''Het verdriet van Roermond'' (The grief of Roermond) – Four-part series on the execution of fourteen civilians in

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

on December 26, 1944 and its consequences, 4 x 50 min * 2006 – ''Het verdriet van Roermond'' (The grief of Roermond) – Short version of the four-part series, 90 min * 2012 – '' Nema Aviona za Zagreb'' (There is no plane for Zagreb) – Autobiographical drama/documentary against background of the 1960s, featuring interviews with

and

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...

. 82 min.

Visual Arts

* Car Sculpture in Tele Creation, 1964 * Matter Paintings, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (New League Images), 1966 * Multi Pels,

Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wante ...

, Eindhoven, 1967: targets of the Milwaukee Police Department * Matter paintings and multiples, Fodor Museum Amsterdam, 1968 * Sunny Implo (with Fred Wessels), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 1970 * Roots of the City,

Nieuwmarkt metro station Nieuwmarkt is an underground metro station in the city centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Served by metro lines 51, 53 and 54 of the Amsterdam Metro, the station was constructed by sinking caissons with a length of . This construction method resul ...

, opening in 1980 * Furnishing

Neeltje Jans Neeltje Jans () is an artificial island in the Netherlands in the province of Zeeland, halfway between Noord-Beveland and Schouwen-Duiveland in the Oosterschelde. It was constructed to facilitate the construction of the Oosterscheldedam. After th ...

(with Wilhelm Holzbauer, Frei Otto, Martin Manning), 1987 * Normal Amsterdam Level (Kees van der Veer), City Hall / Music Theatre, opening in 1988

References

External links