The interview discusses the relationship between the Dutch Reformed Church and film. Reverend Willem Overbosch was involved in the realization of the Report on the Cinema Issue, which was commissioned by the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1946 and which advocated a critical but positive attitude toward film.

Also discussed are film censorship and, more specifically, the activities of the Centrale Commissie voor de Filmkeuring and the Film Center Foundation. This organization was founded in 1947 (initially under the name Stichting Kerk en Film) in order to give shape to the conclusions of the aforementioned report by providing information about film in Protestant Christian circles. Finally, the Prof. Dr. G. van der Leeuw Foundation, meeting center of church and art, is discussed. Persons discussed are: L. Eker, Dr. A. Dronkers, P.J. van Mullem, Prof. Dr. G. van der Leeuw and D. van Staveren.

The interviews were conducted on behalf of Philo Bregstein’s film Otto Klemperer’s journey through his times (1973, 95 min). Bregstein made this film about the German conductor and composer Otto Klemperer (1885-1973) on assignment for R.M. Productions. In these interviews, Bregstein paid attention not only to Klemperer’s life but also to the broader musical climate in Germany in the 20th century. Here, attention is paid to the influence of Mahler, Bruckner, Schoenberg and Strawinsky. The interviews are therefore useful for broader music history.

In the early 20th century, Klemperer’s unusual, modern opera staging attracted attention. Klemperer came from a Jewish family and consequently left Germany for the United States in 1933. After World War II, he settled in Zurich. The commentary accompanying the film is largely spoken by the conductor himself, compiled from the interviews. His daughter Lotte also appears in it. The production was later, on May 19, broadcast on German television (ARD) under the title Otto Klemperers lange Reise, which is in the Sound & Vision archives.

The following individuals were interviewed:

• Otto Klemperer (1885-1973)
• Lotte Klemperer (1923-2003)
• Katia Mann (1883-1980), the wife of Thomas Mann. After World War II, like Klemperer, she lived in Zurich. Thomas Mann was a great writer and public intellectual.

Bregstein also made a separate film in 1971 about the rehearsals leading up to the last concert Klemperer conducted in September 1971. This appeared under the title Otto Klemperer in rehearsal and concert (54 min).

The interviews with the Swiss farmer and painter Schäublin (1895-1978) were made for Bregstein’s television portrait of his life and work, entitled Boer and Schilder (farmer and painter) and broadcast by the NCRV on September 1, 1976. Bregstein conducted the interviews together with his wife, the painter Marline Fritzius.

Early on, the former bank employee Schäublin from Basel retired to the mountain village of Klosters to live as a farmer. In his spare time, he painted a total of about 15 works. However, except for a single exhibition, he kept them for himself. In the interview he talks, among other things, about the painter Grünewald, whom he admired, the writers Lev Tolstoi, Jeremias Gotthelf and Thomas Mann, and the influence he underwent from Buddhism and the writings of Lao-tse. He also talks about his view of hectic modern life and about his own work, in which magical-realist, expressionist and symbolist traits can be recognized.

Philo Bregstein interviewed Corinna van Schendel (1909-1985), daughter of the writer Arthur van Schendel (1874-1946). This great Dutch author is known, among other things, for the book Een zwerver verliefd. The interviews were conducted on behalf of a television portrait of her father’s life and work, entitled Dromen van leven, broadcast in the NCRV series “Open Boek” on August 22, 1977. Bregstein and Corinna van Schendel toured places where Van Schendel lived and wrote: Batavia, Florence, Sestri Levante and Amsterdam.

The then director of Arnhem’s Gemeentemuseum Pierre Jansen (1926-2007) interviewed the painter-sculptor Johan Hendrik van Zweden (1896-1975) in 1970 on the eve of a retrospective exhibition of his work in Arnhem to mark his 75th birthday. Van Zweden was a pupil of Jan Altink and Jan Wiegers, who together founded De Ploeg and introduced German expressionism to the Netherlands. Van Zweden was also a member of the Groningen artists’ circle. During his Groninger years, many portraits were made of Van Zweden (nicknamed “Shanghai Bobby” because of his Asian features) by Ploeg members, showing personal friendship and sympathy. During World War II, he joined the artists’ resistance, but was soon arrested and imprisoned in Kamp Vught.

The interview includes a discussion of Van Zweden’s resistance activities during the German occupation and his stay in the Vught concentration camp, to which he was transferred in 1943 after his arrest. There, with the knowledge of the camp commander, he was able to set up his own studio. After the commander’s departure, he worked in the drawing room of the Philips workshop in Vught. In the camp, among other things, he made portraits of his fellow prisoners.

In May 1944, he was deported to Dachau concentration camp, from which he was liberated in April 1945. After the war, he was appointed by Mart Stam, as a replacement for the fallen sculptor Frits van Hall, to teach at the Institute for Arts and Crafts Education (later the Gerrit Rietveld Academy) in Amsterdam.

In 1968, J. Rijken, R.L. Schuursma and Sj. Vellenga interviewed seventy-one-year-old Johan Huijts (1897-1995), editor-in-chief of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant (later the NRC) during World War II. Shortly after the war, Huijts was arrested and faced subsequent purge trials by the ‘Commissie voor Perszuivering’ for his cooperation with German rules for Dutch journalism. With his expulsion, he was also expelled from the Dutch Journalist Circle and the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, among others.

Also see the inventory of the archive related to Johan Huijts

More information on the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant

R.L. Schuursma held two interviews of together 185 minutes with the historian Pieter Geyl. These interviews mainly focused on his views on journalism, history, politics and the Second World War. Geyl is known, among other things, for his book Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse stam. At the time of the interview he was 77 years old.

For more information on the interview and the interviewed, see: SFW-werkuitgave no. 8 (1995), p.22.

The interview with Rolf Schuursma (born 1931) was conducted for the purposes of a study into (the history of) SFW’s sound archive, resulting in Lauwers’ The interview collections at the Film and Science Foundation, An audiographic overview, part 1, Amsterdam: Film and Science Foundation (SFW working edition no.8), 1995. An inventory of the first 10 years of the audio archive’s interview collection.

The interview covers the development of the Historical Sound Archive within the Institute of History of the Utrecht State University (RUU) in 1961 up to its incorporation into the Utrecht SFW in 1970. Schuursma played a crucial role in the whole process. Besides acquiring a large amount of radio material, he initiated the interview collection at RUU. He moved with SFW in 1970 and became head of the newly formed Documentation Department. He later held other positions within the foundation until 1980, when he became librarian of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Between 1985 and 1992, he was a member of the Advisory Board of SFW.

On Nov. 2, 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was murdered on the beach of Ostia near Rome. Pasolini was a (leftist) public intellectual and controversial director. His work is characterized by many themes that are also found in Gerard Reve’s books, such as the relationship between (homosexual) sexuality and the Catholic faith, the relationship between violence and truth, and the importance of irony and of death.

On the occasion of the documentary Wie de waarheid zegt moet dood, Philo Bregstein organized four interviews about Pasolini’s life. This documentary does not aim to be a biography of Pasolini. Rather, the documentary deals with some themes that helps us understand the background of his life, work and death: his poetry, homosexuality, membership in the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the relationship to his family and the form and themes of his films. This documentary was broadcast by VARA on August 31, 1981.

The movie has also been released in England (Argos Films/British Film Institute) under the title Whoever says the truth shall die. A film about Pier Paolo Pasolini. It can be viewed on youtube.

The following people were interviewed:

• Bernardo Bertolucci, a famous film director who took his first steps on the path of filmmaking thanks to Pasolini. Many of Pasolini’s themes recur with Bertolucci.
• Laura Betti, figured as an actress in some of Pasolini’s films. She also reads some excerpts from his poetry in the interviews.
• Maria-Antonietta Macciocchi, writer, was for some time editor of the weekly of the Partito Comunista Italiano (the Italian Communist Party), in which Pasolini wrote columns at her request. The columns were mainly about sexuality, religion and other matters “beyond” the rational, much to the displeasure of the party leadership.
• Alberto Moravia, the famous Italian writer. He was friends with Pasolini

The interviews with Bertolucci, Betti and Moravia are in Italian. The interview with Macchiocci is in French.

Philo Bregstein in 1969 and 1970 interviewed Jacques Presser (1899-1970), already in his seventies. This historian and writer became known for his book Ondergang: de ververvolging en verdelging van het Nederlandse Jodendom 1940-1945 (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij, 1965). In 1950, the Dutch state commissioned Presser to conduct a study of the fate of the Jews during World War II. For this, Presser spent fifteen years in the NIOD archives. The published book subsequently became a bestseller. Presser is also the creator of the term ego document and is considered one of the great Dutch historians of the modern era.

First of all, Bregstein conducted these interviews for the purposes of the television film Dingen die niet voorbijgaan, broadcast by VARA on May 8, 1970, and in a second, revised and expanded version on October 19, 1970. These interviews included discussions about his childhood, his choice of history as a subject and his experiences as a Jew during the occupation period. From the interview material, Bregstein compiled the commentary for the film.

This film commentary was in turn published in the book Dingen die niet voorbijgaan. Persoonlijk geschiedverhaal van 1900 tot vandaag / verteld door Jacques Presser; in beeld gebracht door Philo Bregstein, Amsterdam, 1970. In 1981 the book was reissued as: Dingen die niet voorbijgaan. Persoonlijk geschiedverhaal verteld door Jacques Presser / film van Philo Bregstein, Amsterdam: Meulenhoff (film texts), 1981. More extensive interviews were incorporated in: Gesprekken met Jacques Presser. Gevoerd door Philo Bregstein, Amsterdam: Athenaeum-Polak & Van Gennep, 1972

Also see the collection Jacques Presser, where Nanda van der Zee interviewed many people after Presser’s death for a biography.