De platte jungle

Documentary about the Wadden Sea in which Van der Keuken looks at this ribbon in the landscape through the eyes of a city-dweller. A film about the relationship between the minuscule and the overwhelming in this flat jungle.

Paris at Dawn

Johan van der Keuken's first film is a uniquely beautiful portrait of Paris at dawn.

Lucebert, Time and Farewell

Three-part film about the Dutch painter and poet Lucebert who died in 1994. Director Johan van der Keuken made three short films about his friend and inspiration Lucebert. The black-and-white film Lucebert, dichter-schilder was shot in 1962 on a very low budget. In 1967 Een film voor Lucebert was released. Unlike Van der Keuken's first film about Lucebert, this one had a political message. It is a film for an artist about the world. Lucebert died in May 1994. A reaction to his death is contained in Als je weet waar ik ben zoek me dan. In thi...

The Blind Child

With the use of montage sequences, voiced over with the observations of the children, van der Keuken was able to use artistic expression to portray the sightless children’s unique perspective of the world.

Brass Unbound

Documentary shows brass bands from Nepal, Surinam, Indonesia and Ghana.

The Reading-Lesson

Van der Keuken juxtaposes images of Dutch children learning to read against those of the coup d'état in Chile.

Big Ben: Ben Webster in Europe

In the late sixties, the American saxophone player and living jazz legend Ben Webster lived in Amsterdam for a year. Webster, who was born in Kansas City in 1909, was a unique personality in the world of jazz and blues. In the thirties, he played with all the great names. During his Amsterdam period, he stayed with an elderly landlady, Mrs Hardloper, with whom he appeared on a national talk show. In conversations with Van der Keuken, he muses on the past; on the fantastic experience of playing in the renowned Duke Ellington band; or on one o...

Bert Schierbeek/The Door

A short portrait of poet Bert Schierbeek, who reads from his poetry.

The Palestinians

Shot in Lebanon in 1975 just before the civil war. The director delivers a nuanced account of the complexities surrounding the Palestinian issue.

Toy

An short anti-cruise missile film created in collaboration with a group of filmmakers.

The Way South

Johan van der Keuken went against the grain in 1980: from Amsterdam (on April 30 with the coronation riots and squatting actions) via Paris, southern France and Italy to Egypt. He made his personal travelogue in three parts for VPRO television. Later, he fused the three parts into one long movie.

Time

The point of departure for this film is the 1981 composition De Tijd by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. Van der Keuken leaves the music undisturbed as an autonomous soundtrack and has the images engage in a sort of battle with it. These images are associations, fragments of events, scenes and situations. The film is preceded by a text by Bert Schierbeek.