July 9 Friday
Joris Ivens Weekend
Mrs Marceline Loridan-Ivens, wife of Joris Ivens, and the European Foundation Joris Ivens present a very special programme with films of Joris Ivens. The documentary films of Ivens are grouped around six themes in the work of Joris Ivens: Introduction / Stories in China / Against Facism / Avant-garde / China / Poetry and Cinema. Mrs Loridan-Ivens will be present to introduce the films of her husband. The theatre space at the Dutch Culture Centre will also host a small exhibition of photographs of Joris Ivens and Mrs Marceline Loridan-Ivens.
Joris Ivens (1898-1989) the famous Dutch documentary made over 80 films in almost every continent and initiated or supported many organisations to found or develop a national filmculture (in Holland, USA, China, Vietnam, Eastern-Europe, Cuba, Chili and Mali). In China he has the honorary title: ‘Friend of the Chinese People’. Joris Ivens made his first film in China in 1938 called The 400 Million (in collaboration with photographer Robert Capa) in which footage can be seen of Mr. Zhou-Enlai and Mr. Zu De and the music can be heard of ‘The March of the Volunteers’ (text Tian Han), which later on became the National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China. This documentary supported the Chinese people in their fight against the Japanese invading army. Before Joris Ivens left China he gave his camera to the Y’anan Movie Group at the Red Army Basis, a key moment in film history. With this camera the first movies of this Chinese documentary movement were made. From 1956 on Joris Ivens was appointed adviser of the newly founded Chinese Newsreel and Documentary Film Studios in Beijing.
In 1972 he made together with Marceline Loridan-Ivens a long series of 12 hours about China, commissioned by prime-minister Zhou-Enlai. Two parts of this series called “How Yukong Moved the Mountains’ will be screened, one of is made in Shanghai (The Pharmacy). Mrs. Marceline Loridan-Ivens will introduce and discuss about these films.
Ivens received many awards like the Golden Palm in Cannes, the Golden Lion in Venice, the Golden Bridge in San Francisco, the Félix in Paris, the World Peace Award in Helsinki and the International Lenin Prize in Moscow. More information about Joris Ivens, his documentary films and the programme at the Dutch Culture Centre can be found on the website: www.ivens.nl
PROGRAMME
Friday July 9th
| Introduction | 19.30 - 21.15 hrs. |
| Témoins | Film interview with Joris Ivens. At the background the Parisian airport Orly can be seen, a metaphor for Ivens’ wandering around the world and his nickname ‘The Flying Dutchman’. |
| Introduction and debate | By Mrs. Marceline Loridan-Ivens |
| Stories in China | 21.30 - 23.10 hrs. |
| Une Histoire d'un Ballon, le Lycée | A report on an ideological debate between a teacher and her class room full of pupils regarding an incident with a football. This film is part of Comment Yukong deplaça les montagnes. |
| Une Histoire de Vent | Joris Ivens' last film, made in collaboration with Marceline Loridan-Ivens, is a testamentary view on his own life and the changes in the world. After Pour le Mistral, this film is his second attempt to film the invisible: the wind. |
Saturday July 10th
| Against fascism | 14.30 – 16.20 hrs. |
| The Spanish Earth | In December 1936 Ivens went to Spain and one month later started shooting on the war front around Madrid. This documentary became one of the major films on the Spanish Civil War. |
| The 400 Million | Documentary about the resistance of the Chinese against the Japanese invasion and occupation from Manchuria. |
| Avant-garde | 17.00 – 18.30 hrs. |
| The Bridge / De brug | The vertical lift-bridge in Rotterdam is the object of a study of movements in The bridge. ‘For me, the bridge consisted of a laboratory of movements, tints, forms, contrasts, rythms and the relationship between all these phenomena.’ |
| Rain / Regen | A film poem (Cine Poème) about the rise and demise of a rain shower in Amsterdam, as many capitals were filmed by avant-garde filmmakers in the 1920's. |
| Philips-Radio | This film is considered the third important Dutch avant-garde film of Joris Ivens, after The Bridge and Rain. |
| New Earth / Nieuwe gronden | In the middle of the economical depression, with governmental attempts to fight unemployment with public works Ivens made a film about the reclamation of the Zuiderzee near Amsterdam and the building of polders and dikes by unemployed workers. |
| China | 19.30 – 20.55 hrs. |
| La Pharmacie No. 3 : Shanghai | This film is part of Comment Yukong deplaça les montagnes.Between 1971 and 1975 Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan-Ivens worked on the preparations and filming of this monumental 12 hours Yukong series, consisting of twelve parts. The series became a portrait of the Chinese and their daily life with its many aspects, and the introduction of the Cultural Revolution, intended for a Western public. |
| Introduction and debate | By Mrs. Marceline Loridan-Ivens. |
| Poetry and cinema | 21.15 – 22.55 hrs. |
| La Seine a rencontré Paris | Inspired by a photo series of Henri Cartier-Bresson about the river Seine, Joris Ivens created a film poem about Paris and Parisian life on the borders of the Seine river. |
| …à Valparaiso | In 1962, Joris Ivens was invited by Salvador Allende to Chile for teaching and filmmaking at the film school of the university of Santiago de Chile. Together with students Ivens made ...À Valparaiso, contrasting the prestigious history of the seaport. |
| Pour le Mistral | Joris Ivens' first attempt to film and capture the wind. With a beautiful photography, a powerful editing and a poetic commentary the film tries to make the wind visible and tangible. |
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