Tonight the queen may officially open the new home of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, last night director Sandra den Hamer did it herself in advance at an opening party for relations. In doing so, she spoke of a historic moment for film culture in the Netherlands.
Seen from a distance, the building, conveniently referred to as 'the new film museum', is most reminiscent of a spaceship that has landed next to the former Shell building on the IJ River. The architecture is striking enough to attract a lot of attention, attention that EYE's film museum branch will desperately need to achieve its goal of tripling its visitors to 225,000 a year.
The creation designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects certainly exudes ambition and allure, and was also built within the planned time - which is an achievement in itself within the museum world. Museum is also a somewhat dusty word for this magnificent cinema complex that includes four cinemas. At last, the 80,000 inhabitants of Amsterdam Noord ('the new Amsterdam', in Den Hamer's words) have their own cinema again.
The design with its crooked lines and corners may be eccentric, but it has nevertheless become a building in which you quickly feel at ease and where it is pleasant to wander around. You imagine yourself in a modern film set with lots of white (all walls can be projected if necessary), many stairs and lots of wood for a warm touch. And don't forget the terrace overlooking the IJ. Now just do something about the step lighting in the halls.
Hopefully, audiences will know how to find not only the cinemas, but also the somewhat hidden entrance to the generous exhibition space. Currently on show there is the exhibition Found Footage: Cinema Exposed. Installations and projections by artists who have used 'found' footage from film archives for their own creations. Free to enter is the Basement with a kind of digital film jukeboxes that allow visitors to browse through film history themselves. Also, from 5 April, an extensive opening programme with a retrospective of Martin Scorsese and lots more.
Leo Bankersen
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