Johan van der Keuken

Johan van der Keuken born the April 4th 1938 with Amsterdam, dead the January 7th 2001 in the same city, is a scenario writer and photographer Dutch. Impassioned by the image and reality, its cinema is located at the border between the documentary one and the experimental one.

Its life

Johan van der Keuken begins its career by the Photographie as of the 12 years age. It publishes its first book of photographs 5 years later, entitled " Wij zijn 17, We have seventeen ans" (1955). It follows the courses of the IDHEC, the Institut of the high cinematographic studies of Paris the following year and starts to carry out its first films. Its photographs and texts, on the cinema and photography, are published in various magazines. It makes a short passage to the newspaper Haagse Post, as a film Critic (1960-1961).

As of the beginning of the year 1960, it devotes to the Réalisation its documentary films, daring the Expérimentation, and by imposing its Subjectivité. Filming itself its images, by privileging often long plans, details, exploiting the repetition, the movement, it is essential quickly like a talented scenario writer.

From 1977, it signs a chronicle entitled “Uit of wereld van een kleine zelfstandige” (Of the world of a small entrepreneur) in the cinematographic review Skrien. In addition to very many films, Van der Keuken carries out various collections of photographs, the installations and the exposures (in particular with the National center of art and culture Georges-Pompidou) and gives seminars in many cinematographic schools in Europe and in the United States.

The films of Johan van der Keuken have something of organics. In a constant research, it re-uses its images, differently juxtapose them in various films, it is delayed on the assembly, to release from it a cinematographic language which becomes sensory.

He travels in the whole world in company of his wife Nosh van der Lely, who holds the microphone and the tape recorder. Whereas he learns in 1988 qu ' it does not remain to him any more that a few years to be lived, it devotes his time to look at and to listen. " Holidays prolongées" , realized in 2000, milked of its combat against cancer. He dies the following year.

The last film of Johan van der Keuken, " Present inachevé" , makes the opening of the International Film Festival of Rotterdam in 2002.

Selective catalog of films

1964 : the child plugs (the child plugs) , documentary 24 '
1967: a film for Lucebert (a film for Lucebert) , documentary 22 '
1968: the spirit of time (the spirit of time) , documentary 42 '
1973: the white fortress (the white fortress) , documentary 78 '
1974: Holidays of the scenario writer (Vakantie van een to film) , telefilm
1978: the Jungle punt (Of platte jungle) , documentary
1980: the Master and the Giant
1984: Towards the south , 143 '
1984: time , 450 '
1986: I coils $ , 145 ', price josef von Sternberg, Germany
1988: the Eye with the top of the Well , 90 ', Grand Prix, Festival of Film of Brussels
1990: the mask , 55 '
1990: been worth Face
1993: Sarajevo Film festival , 14 ', Golden Globe 1994
1994: Lucebert, time and good-byes 52 ', Large-Prices biennial of film on art, Paris
1994: One animal locomotion , 15 '
1996: Amsterdam Total Village , 228 ', Grolsch Price, Grand Prix in Munich Documentary Film festival
1997: Last words - My sister Joke (1935-1997 , 50 '
2000: Time/work , 10 ', video installation, Center George Pompidou, Paris
2000: prolonged Holidays (Of grote vakantie) , 145 ', Silver whorl award winner, San Francisco, Grand Prix, Visions of reality
2002: Present unfinished , 10 '

Selective bibliography

Adventures of a glance, Album of photographs, films, texts and interviews, in collaboration with François Albéra, Editions Books of the Cinema, Paris. Literary prize of Criticism (French), 1999.

The lucid Eye (album of photographs), 2001

Bewogen Beelden, (album of photographs and texts), 2001

External bonds

Official site of Johan van der Keuken
Extracted from texts of Johan van der Keuken, in French

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