Collect Films!
Egbert Barten and the Geoffrey Donaldson Instituut from Noord-Scharwoude
Countless small archives and private collections in Germany take care of the preservation and transmission of film heritage. The event series Collect Films! is dedicated to them. Now we are broadening our horizons and inviting the film historian Egbert Barten from the Netherlands to the Zeughauskino to show rare films from his collection. Not far from Alkmaar, Egbert Barten founded the private Geoffrey Donaldson Instituut in his home town of Noord-Scharwoude in 2013, named after the Australian pioneer of Dutch film historiography (1929-2002). Exhibitions and film screenings are held here regularly.
In addition to a research library, a poster and document collection, the institute also has an extensive film archive and a small, cozy room for analog projections. The international career of its namesake and his achievements as a mediator between cultures are wonderfully reflected in the profile of the film collection: Its particular focus is on Dutch feature films and documentaries, but it also includes films from all over the world, in many cases in Dutch or Belgian distribution versions. The many German films with Dutch subtitles are evidence of a lively exchange between the two neighboring countries and thus part of German-Dutch film history. Egbert Barten has made a selection for the Zeughauskino that is as varied as it is instructive: from comedies from the silent film era to West German film noir, from sophisticated psychological thrillers to satire about the behavior of German tourists on the campsite. (Philipp Stiasny)
