Still: Johan van der Keuken at work during the recording of Beppie (1965) – © Eddy Posthuma de Boer

In October and November the first part of this full retrospective  will be shown chronologically. This first part comprises Van der Keuken’s early work, his first attempts at developing his own visual language: city portraits of Amsterdam and Paris, a.o. (Paris à l’aube (1957) and The Wall (1973), his famous portraits of artist friends and notable people from his environment in Amsterdam a.o. Tajiri (1962), Big Ben Webster in Europe (1967) and Beppie (1965), a first film about the Dutch poet Bert Schierbeek (The Door, 1973), and finally the films that originate out of a social concern (The Reading Lesson (1973), Four Walls (1965)). His famous short films about blind children also date from this period (Blind Child (1964) and Blind Child 2 – Herman Slobbe (1966)). Together with Remco Campert, Van der Keuken also experimented early on with more traditional forms of fiction, in which his particular attention to frame and composition is particularly striking. 

The second part of the retrospective, starting in December, will feature his more extensive works, including the outstanding North-South trilogy, the colossal Amsterdam Global Village (1996), and his final film The Long Holiday (2000).

On October 10th Nosh van der Lely, Van der Keuken’s widow and often contributor to his films, and Pieter van Huystee, producer of Van der Keuken’s films from 1993 on, will be present for a conversation and the screening of The Long Holiday and The Time (1984). During the entire period of the retrospective there is also a small exhibition of documents that highlight the link between Van der Keuken and Brussels on view at the CINEMATEK.

For the full program description by Sabzian’s Gerard-Jan Claes, Nina de Vroome, and Tillo Huygelen and a complete overview of all works by Johan van der Keuken screened in the retrospective click here.