Joris Ivens


Director, Documentarian

About

Also Known As
Georg Henri Anton Ivens
Birth Place
Netherlands
Born
November 18, 1898
Died
June 28, 1989
Cause of Death
Heart Attack After Kidney Failure

Biography

Joris Ivens' contributions to the development of documentary filmmaking are multitudinous. His editing style employed the principles of Russian montage editing, at the same time displaying an impressionistic lyricism, often focused on continuity of movement, which remains unsurpassed. His sound films often utilized a dialectical relationship between sound and image, and several times he ...

Family & Companions

Marceline Loridan
Companion
Filmmaker. Co-directed all Ivens' films since "The 17th Parallel" (1968).

Bibliography

"Joris Ivens ou la memoire d'un regard"
Joris Ivens (1982)
"The Camera and I"
Joris Ivens (1969)

Notes

Dutch Film Museum formed Joris Ivens archive in 1969.

Biography

Joris Ivens' contributions to the development of documentary filmmaking are multitudinous. His editing style employed the principles of Russian montage editing, at the same time displaying an impressionistic lyricism, often focused on continuity of movement, which remains unsurpassed. His sound films often utilized a dialectical relationship between sound and image, and several times he enjoyed significant collaborations with literary artists. Although he has been faulted for using too many re-enactments in his documentaries, the ultimate force of his work overshadows such criticisms.

His formal education began in 1917 at the Rotterdam College of Economics. Military service intervened, and when he returned to college, he became active in politics and trade union movements, already showing signs of his life-long passion for political causes. Later, he studied photochemistry at the University of Charlottenburg in Berlin and gained practical experience at the Ica and Ernemann camera factories. In 1926, he returned to Amsterdam, heading the technical department of CAPI, his father's photography equipment firm.

Ivens frequented the cafes where expressionist and avant-garde artists viewed the new cinema from Germany and Russia. In September 1926, Ivens and his colleagues founded the Dutch Film League (Filmliga) to develop constructive, original film criticism. The Filmliga proved a success, and major filmmakers began to preview their films in Amsterdam.

Ivens then turned to CAPI's resources to produce his own films. Helen van Dongen, a CAPI secretary, became Ivens' closest collaborator, a role which would continue for years to come. Ivens' earliest films experimented with the laws of continuity of movement. The first to receive international praise was "De Brug/The Bridge" (1928), a masterful composition documenting the contrasts, movements and rhythms of a bridge, and the film which is also credited with inaugurating the Dutch cinema.

"Branding/Breakers" (1929), his first fictional film, was unremarkable, although it did mark the beginning of Ivens' long association with John Ferhout (also known as Ferno), who was a 14-year-old assistant on the film and eventually became Ivens' principal cameraman.

Ivens next notable work was "Regen/Rain" (1929). Structured to resemble a single downpour, the film is actually a meticulously edited assemblage of four months' worth of raw footage depicting every kind of rainfall. Heralded as "pure cinema," "Regen" demonstrated an impressionistic style new to the documentary form.

The body of work which immediately followed was remarkable. "Nieuve Gronden/New Earth" (1933) begins as a lyrical montage of movement and music, only to shift in tone, creating a biting, satirical narrative. "New Earth" is considered to be one of the greatest of all documentaries. "The Spanish Earth" (1937), his next film, was made in collaboration with Ernest Hemingway, who wrote and narrated the commentary, indicting the Fascist cruelties during the Spanish Civil War. Proceeds from the film's box office were used to purchase ambulances for the Loyalist cause.

Outstanding among his later films was "Lied der Strome/Song of the Rivers" (1954), a compilation film utilizing footage shot in 32 countries. Honored with several prizes, including the International Peace Prize of the World Peace Council, the film was eventually seen by approximately 250 million people worldwide. "La Seine a rencontre Paris/The Seine Meets Paris" (1957), counterposed with a poem by Jacques Prevert, was chosen best documentary at Cannes.

Ivens' distinguished career is so prolific that it can only be suggested in this brief space. A teacher, political activist and visual artist, as well as award-winning documentarian, he continued to remain active until his death at the age of 90.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Italy Is Not a Poor Country (1989)
Director
Une Histoire de vent (1988)
Director
Ouigours-minorite nationale-Sinkiang, Les (1977)
Director
Les Kazaks - minorite nationale - Sinkiang (1977)
Director
Pharmacie No. 3: Shanghai (1976)
Director
Une Caserne (1976)
Director
Le Village de pecheurs (1976)
Director
Histoire d'un ballon: le lycee no. 31 a Pekin (1976)
Director
Une Femme, une Famille (1976)
Director
L' Usine de generateurs (1976)
Director
Entrainement au Cirque de Pekin (1976)
Director
Comment Yukong Deplaca les Montagnes (1976)
Director
Impressions d'une Ville: Shanghai (1976)
Director
Artisans, Les (1976)
Director
Une Repeticion a l'Opera de Pekin (1976)
Director
Autour du petrole: Taking (1976)
Director
Le Professeur Tsien (1976)
Director
Far From Vietnam (1968)
Director
17th Parallel: Vietnam in War (1968)
Director
Aventures de Till l'Espiegel, Les (1956)
Director
Lied der Strome (1954)
Director
The 400,000,000 (1939)
Director
The 400 Million (1938)
Director
Nieuwe gronden (1933)
Director
Misere au Borinage (1933)
Director
Philips-Radio (1931)
Director
Branding (1929)
Director
Regen (1929)
Director
De Brug (1928)
Director
Etudes de mouvements (1928)
Director

Cast (Feature Film)

Une Histoire de vent (1988)
The Old Man
Havre (1986)
Conversations With Willard Van Dyke (1981)
Himself
Grierson (1972)
Nieuwe gronden (1933)
Narration

Cinematography (Feature Film)

17th Parallel: Vietnam in War (1968)
Director of Photography
The 400,000,000 (1939)
Photography

Writer (Feature Film)

Une Histoire de vent (1988)
Screenwriter
17th Parallel: Vietnam in War (1968)
Screenwriter
Lied der Strome (1954)
Screenwriter
The 400 Million (1938)
Screenwriter
Nieuwe gronden (1933)
Screenwriter
Misere au Borinage (1933)
Screenwriter
De Brug (1928)
Screenwriter
Etudes de mouvements (1928)
Screenwriter

Producer (Feature Film)

The 400 Million (1938)
Producer

Editing (Feature Film)

Misere au Borinage (1933)
Editor
Philips-Radio (1931)
Editor
Branding (1929)
Editor
Regen (1929)
Editor
Etudes de mouvements (1928)
Editor
De Brug (1928)
Editor

Film Production - Main (Feature Film)

Misere au Borinage (1933)
Photography
Nieuwe gronden (1933)
Photography
Philips-Radio (1931)
Photography
Branding (1929)
Photography
Regen (1929)
Photography
Etudes de mouvements (1928)
Photography
De Brug (1928)
Photography

Production Companies (Feature Film)

The 400,000,000 (1939)
Company
The Spanish Earth (1937)
Company

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Conversations With Willard Van Dyke (1981)
Other
Comment Yukong Deplaca les Montagnes (1976)
Other

Writer (Short)

Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945)
Writer

Life Events

1927

Made manager of Amsterdam branch of father's camera-store chain

1927

Co-founder of Filmliga film society

1928

Debut as documentary filmmaker with "The Bridge"

1929

Made first fiction film, "Branding/Breakers"

1929

Asked by Vsevolod Pudovkin (qv) to lecture in USSR

1936

In US, formed production company to record contemporary historic events with Ernest Hemingway, Robert Flaherty (qv), Lillian Hellman and John Dos Passos

1938

Made first of several films about China, "The 400 Million"

1944

Named Film Commissioner of Netherlands East Indies (subsequently resigned)

1951

Blacklisted by Hollywood

1956

Co-directed first feature-length film, "The Adventures of Till Eulenspiegel" in East Germany

1957

Left USA permanently; moved to Paris

Companions

Marceline Loridan
Companion
Filmmaker. Co-directed all Ivens' films since "The 17th Parallel" (1968).

Bibliography

"Joris Ivens ou la memoire d'un regard"
Joris Ivens (1982)
"The Camera and I"
Joris Ivens (1969)

Notes

Dutch Film Museum formed Joris Ivens archive in 1969.