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THE FILMMUSEUM BIENNALE '07
A feast for the eye and ear 
Ninotchka
From 11 until 15 April, the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam will be holding its third Filmmuseum Biennale. During this biennial film festival, the Filmmuseum will be showing silent films together with live performances of new soundtracks. Special finds from the historical film collection will also be presented. Visitors will be able to enjoy gems from film history in some forty screenings, many complete with musical accompaniment by, for example, classical ensembles, contemporary composers and DJs.
Restorers have been working behind the scenes of the Filmmuseum to safeguard films from the early period of cinema (1895-1928) and restore them to their former glory. The museum has gained international recognition with its much-discussed restorations and presentations of silent films from its collection (Beyond the Rocks, Menschen am Sonntag), complete with new soundtracks which are often performed live.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS ACCOMPANIED BY LIVE MUSIC
A set of five highlights resulting from the restoration efforts of both the Filmmuseum and the festival's guest, the Österreichisches Filmmuseum, can be seen during the Filmmuseum Biennale. Under the slogan, a 'feast for the eye and ear', musicians and composers were invited to compose new scores. Singer, musician and composer Fay Lovsky will perform her own 'soundscape' during the showing of the opening film The Floor Below (C.G. Badger, 1918), a unique find from the Filmmuseum's collection. In a performance in the Paradiso venue, a DJ will translate the energy of Dziga Vertov's images in The Eleventh Year (Odinnadtsatii, 1928) in compelling electronic beats, bleeps en riddims. Composer and musician Corrie van Binsbergen gives Jacques Feyder's L'Atlantide (1921) a new dimension with a mix of jazz, 'grooves' and ethnic music. Moreover, the Filmmuseum invited Rainer Hensel, the composer who used to create the soundtracks for Theo van Gogh's films, to make a new score for Such Men are Dangerous (Kenneth Hawks 1930) and the Biennale curator Martin de Ruiter has written a new score for the Austrian classic, Der Mandarin (Fritz Freisler 1918), which will be performed by film and theatre orchestra Max Tak.
Press here for more information about the evening screenings accompanied by live music
PROGRAMME
Besides the five evening programmes with live music, there are also many other special screenings during the festival. This year, the Filmmuseum Biennale will devote special attention to experimental cinema: the filmmaker in focus is the Dutch experimental filmmaker and visual artist Paul de Nooijer (1943). You can see classic films as Ninotchka and Night of the Hunter. Comedy star Mabel Normand, who plays the leading role in the opening night screening of The Floor Below, will be honoured with a film programme containing highlights from her career.
Screening schedule
CLASSICS
Besides the five evening programmes with live music, there are also many other special screenings during the festival. The Filmmuseum will present six cinema history masterpieces from its own collection: Sergio Leone’s famous spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Charles Laughton’s directorial debut The Night of the Hunter (1955), Ernst Lubitsch’s bittersweet political satire Ninotchka (1939, featuring Greta Garbo), Entoeziasm (1930) by the Russian cinema pioneer Dziga Vertov, Garson Kanin’s A Man to Remember (1938) and Friedrich Fehér’s legendary musical The Robber Symphony (1936).
MABEL NORMAND
The third edition of the Filmmuseum Biennale spotlights Mabel Normand (1892-1930), who was known in her prime as the ‘female Charlie Chaplin’. Normand was a protégée of producer Mack Sennett. During the Filmmuseum Biennale she will be the subject of a special programme where she co-stars with the slapstick giants Fatty Arbuckle, Oliver Hardy and Charlie Chaplin.
Article by Steve Massa on Mabel Normand.
ARTISTS IN FOCUS: PAUL EN MENNO DE NOOIJER
This year, the Filmmuseum Biennale will devote special attention to experimental cinema: the Dutch experimental filmmakers and visual artists Paul and Menno de Nooijer are this year’s ‘Artists in focus’. Father and son De Nooijer combine their work as photographers with producing unique films that explore the borders between film, photography and visual art. A representative selection of theirs films will be presented, as well as an exhibition of their enlarged film stills and a video installation (100 years of beauty). More.
SEMINARS
In the course of three day-long seminars, film professionals will discuss experimental cinema and the innovations and training available in the field of film restoration.
Seminar ‘The Reel Thing’ and ‘AMIA’
On 11 April, the Filmmuseum will present the seminars ‘The Reel Thing’ and ‘AMIA’. The morning programme, entitled ‘The Reel Thing’, offers an overview of the most recent technologies in the field of film restoration and conservation. The afternoon programme, organised by the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), deals with the developments in archiving moving images and forms an important international platform for individuals and organisations concerned with preserving and utilising film material.
11 Apr 9.30 - 17.00
Amsterdam Film Seminar
The Amsterdam Film Seminar will be devoted to the subject of experimental film. The discussions and (film) presentations will deal with programming and presenting experimental film heritage, the role of this heritage in the work of contemporary filmmakers and the problems that may be encountered in conserving and restoring experimental films. The future of experimental cinema and the manner in which experimental audio-visual heritage can be displayed will also be discussed.
12 Apr 9.30 - 17.00
Seminar ‘Audio-visual archives and education’
The Filmmuseum, the Association des Cinemathèques Européennes (ACE) and the international MA course ‘Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image’ by the Universiteit van Amsterdam have organised a seminar to present the rapid developments in archiving and presenting audio-visual collections and to bring the educational institutions specialised in this field into contact with one another.
13 Apr 9.30 - 17.00
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FESTIVAL LOCATIONS
The screenings will take place in the Filmmuseum, Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam; Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Piet Heinkade 1, Amsterdam;
Paradiso, Weteringschans 6-8, Amsterdam; De Duif, Prinsengracht 756, Amsterdam; Pathé Tuschinski, Reguliersbreestraat 26-34 Amsterdam
RESERVATIONS
From 1 March you can reserve tickets at the Filmmuseum's booking office, Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam. The booking office is open on weekdays from 09.00 until 22.15, and in the weekends from one hour before the commencement of the first screening (until 22.15). Or call (+ 31) (0)20-5891401.
ENTRANCE FEES
Pass (valid for all presentations in the Filmmuseum): € 22.50
Tickets for single presentations: € 7.80 (discount: € 6.5; friends of the Filmmuseum: € 4.5)
Tickets for the evening screenings accompanied by live music
· The Floor Below: € 22.50 (discount: € 18.00; friends of the Filmmuseum: € 18.00)
· L’Atlantide: € 15.00 (discount: € 12.50; friends of the Filmmuseum: € 10.00)
· The Eleventh Year: € 15.00 (discount: € 12.50; friends of the Filmmuseum: € 10.00)
· Der Mandarin: € 7.50 (friends of the Filmmuseum: € 5,50)
· Such Man Are Dangerous: € 15.00 (discount: € 12.50; friends of the Filmmuseum: € 10.00)
The seminars are free, but the seats are limited. Tickets can be reserved starting one week before the opening of the Biennale at the Filmmuseum box office.
The exhibition by Paul and Menno de Nooijer is also free.
Concessions include CJP, student card and Stadspas, senior citizens, and members of NBF and GNS. For Friends of the Filmmuseum a special reduction applies.
Important! Holders of a pass still need to book tickets in advance. For individual screenings we strongly recommend advance booking. Tickets have to be collected at the central ticket office (at the Filmmuseum) up to 1 hour before the first booking screening. Uncollected bookings are cancelled and will be sold one hour in advance of the screening.
BELBIOS (central cinema booking service by phone) 0900 - 9363 (45 p/m) After connection, dial code 07323 for screenings in Filmmuseum Vondelpark. Or book online at: www.belbios.nl
OTHER SALES LOCATIONS
Opening night The Floor Below 11 April 20:30:
Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Piet Heinkade 1, Amsterdam, tel. +31 (0)20 - 788 20 00, www.muziekgebouw.nl
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 12 Apr 19:00, The Eleventh Year 12 April 23:00:
Paradiso, Weteringschans 6-8, Amsterdam, tel. +31 (0)20 - 626 45 21, www.paradiso.nl
Der Mandarin 15 April 11:00:
Pathé-Tuschinski, Reguliersbreestraat 36-34, Amsterdam, tel. +31 (0)900-1458 (0.35 p/m)
ROUTE TO FILMMUSEUM VONDELPARK
Public transport
Trams 1 and 12 stop near Filmmuseum Vondelpark: tram 1 (15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station) stops along Overtoom, tram 12 (15 minutes from Amsterdam Amstel station, 20 minutes from Amsterdam Sloterdijk station) stops along Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat. Trams 2 and 5 (15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station) and trams 6, 7, and 10 (7 minutes from underground station Weesperplein) stop at Leidseplein, from where it is a 5-min. walk to Filmmuseum Vondelpark. Buses 170, 172 and night buses 200, 270, 271, 353, 354, 356, and 358 all stop at Leidseplein.
Car
From all directions, on the A10 (Amsterdam ring road) take exit S106 to the west of the city. Follow the signs for ‘Centrum’. You cross Surinameplein and drive along Overtoom to the end. At the T-junction turn right and take the second on the right (Tesselschadestraat) to the multi-storey car park. From the car park, you can walk to the Filmmuseum in 5 min. (via Tesselschadestraat and Roemer Visscherstraat).