Belga Sport is a Flemish documentary television series depicting turning points in Belgian sports history. The program, made by Woestijnvis and shown on the Flemish public broadcaster Canvas, digs up fragments from the VRT sports archives and sheds new light on “known” facts through testimonies. The subtitle therefore reads Old sports stories in a new light. The first series was broadcast in the spring of 2007. A new series was recently released in 2024. In June 2008, Belga Sport was awarded the Prize of Television Criticism. And in early 2011, the program received a nomination from the Flemish Television Stars in the category “Best Information Program.

There is also a podcast with the creators of Belga Sport. Which can be found here.

The interviewees are all people from Utrecht who talk about their experiences in daily life and work during the occupation period 1940-45. They discuss: the German invasion in May 1940, raids in Utrecht and the NSB. Leo van Rhenen conducted the interviews out of interest in (daily) life in Utrecht during World War II.

In the year that Sint-Niklaas celebrates its 800th anniversary, the socialist movement in the Wase capital reveals its history, with the expo ‘Het Grote Rode Verhaal’ at the Volkshuis and gets a permanent place in the Art Deco building. There is not only an expo.

The socialist movement also mapped out a walk along the most prominent places in Sint-Niklaas where the socialist story was written. Among others, it runs through the Tabaksstraat, where many workers used to work in the cigar factories, past the former Bond Moyson in Mercatorstraat, the former cooperative shop in Truweelstraat to the Volkshuis.

The project is an initiative of ABW-Waasland. It was realised in cooperation with the AMSAB and financially supported by ABW, SP and Bond Moyson of Waasland.

A first publication resulted from it in 1996, edited by Geert Van Goethem (AMSAB-Antwerp), with the title Vaandels ruisen, vuisten groeten. The work dealt mainly with the founding period of the socialist movement in Sint-Niklaas, from around 1895 until the outbreak of
the Second World War. The period after the war was covered only briefly.

A second phase was therefore launched in July 1997. The publication Banners murmur, Fists salute.
Volume II covers the period 1945-1975. A brief chapter was also devoted to the occupation
and liberation (which, who knows, might later turn into a third publication). The format of this second volume has become somewhat broader. This time, not only the town of Sint-Niklaas but the whole district is scrutinised, entirely in line with the evolution that the socialist movement in the Waasland region underwent during this period. The trade union as well as the party and the sick association are covered. A chapter is also devoted to the women’s movement.

To give an idea of what life was like in the 1970s when Green lived among the Matawai, original photographs from the Edward C. Green Papers are scattered throughout, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute

Green, an anthropologist, collected notes, photographs and audio recordings made during his time among the Matawai in the early 1970s, all of which were recently donated to the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution’s Recovering Voices programme, three Matawai researchers had access to this valuable historical material for the first time and were allowed to take back copies to share with the rest of their community.

Photograph from the Edward C. Green papers

Interviews collected for the Archaeological Anthropological Institute Netherlands Antilles (AAINA) by Rose Mary Allen during the period 1980-1995

Besides the famous Zikinzá collection, Brenneker and Elis collected many more oral histories, which are stored in the Curaçao Public Library.

An updated and expanded version of Will Johnson’s 1979 book, which recounts the history and culture of Saba, drawing from both archival sources and personal interviews.The original tapes, covering the lives of over 60 different Sabans, can be found at the Queen Wilhelmina Library in The Bottom, Saba.

Based on taped cassette interviews conducted in 1985 on the island of Saba, this film brings to life stories about living on Saba during the 19th and 20th centuries. 

An updated and expanded version of Will Johnson’s 1979 book, which recounts the history and culture of Saba, drawing from both archival sources and personal interviews.

A historiography of the Netherlands from 1938 through 1948 based on interviews with mostly ordinary people about the crisis years, the brief revival from 1938, WWII and the decolonization of Indonesia interspersed with archival material including feature film and sound clips.

Beginning in the 1970s, there was a shift in perspective on WWII. It was no longer good to beat oneself up and only point the accusing finger at the collaborator, the Nazi or the criminal.

This change was reflected in the 1974 VPRO documentary. The emphasis was on the failure of the authorities and the mental kinship of collaborators and “ordinary” citizens. The story is an “anti-epic” of confusion, self-interest, doubt, helplessness and absurdity.

The interviews were made for the VPRO production Vastberaden, maar soepel en met mate. Memories of the Netherlands 1938-1948, by H.J.A. Hofland, Hans Keller and Hans Verhagen. Television broadcast took place on October 15, 1974 (2 hours 55 min.). An edited version was broadcast on June 29, 1977 and repeated on August 27, 1989.

The interviewees recount their memories of the last prewar years, World War II and the first postwar period from the different positions they held at the time. Sometimes they are authorities such as the politicians Burger and Schermerhorn, the historian Bouman, the communist resistance fighter Gortzak and also the press chief of Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart, Willi Janke. In addition, however, several “ordinary people” are featured, on whose history in and around the war the producers especially wanted to emphasize. Examples include the Amsterdam-based Mrs. de Bruin and her friend, the resistance fighter De Graaf, the NSB member J.B. and the German soldiers stationed in the Netherlands during the occupation. Rasterhof, Van der Schaaf, Scheps and Slui give their views on the so-called Schokking affair. Mr. F.M.A. Schokking was mayor of Hazerswoude during wartime and played a role in the arrest of the Jewish family Pino. After the war, he became mayor of The Hague until the affair was brought up and forced him to resign. At Slui’s house, the Pino’s had been in hiding for some time during the war.

Most of the interviews were conducted by Hans Verhagen. Sytze van der Zee also participated in the interview with Willi Janke. The interview with Van Walsum – ultimately not included in the documentary – was conducted by Henk Hofland.

Chris Vos made an analysis of the documentary in his article ‘An indifferent history? The significance of the VPRO documentary Vastberaden, maar soepel en met mate for Dutch audiovisual historiography’, in: Yearbook of Media History 5, Amsterdam: Stichting Mediageschiedenis/Stichting beheer IISG, 1993, pp. 227-260. He did the same in his dissertation Television and Occupation. A study of the documentary representation of World War II in the Netherlands, Hilversum: Verloren, 1995, pp. 128-153.

In 1989 the documentary was repeated as part of the VPRO series TVTOEN. or: How Dutch Television Writes History. There the makers talked about the making of the film, their underlying ideas, the Schokking affair and about (former prime minister) de Quay refusing an interview.

The following were interviewed:

Henriette de Beaufort
H. Blok, Hoogovens, about the crisis years: the relationship between rich and poor; the provision of work; the injustice towards the common man
Mrs. de Bruin and Mrs. Anchelon, about the Germans in Amsterdam, who drove through the Kinkerstraat after only four days of war and about their irritation about the German language, which they kept afterwards
Prof. Dr. P.J. Bouman, former professor of history, about meetings, among others in Woudschoten, for the foundation of a broad people’s party, its elitist character, the search for new terminologies; Mussert’s role
J.A.W. Burger, about his work and political interest at the time
Henk Gortzak
Willi Janke, former journalist, on his work as a German press correspondent in the Netherlands; internment after the German invasion
J.B. Groningen, former NSB member
Cas de Graaf
Mr. P.J
Mrs. Kruger[s], retired warehouse manager, about the Germans’ good maps and weapons during the invasion
B.J. Kouw, representative from Amsterdam, about working at a young age, the merits during the crisis years
Gerrit Kouwenaar
J. Osten, about the first German soldiers in Scheveningen, after the invasion
L. Rasterhof
S.J. van der Schaaf
Prof. W. Schermerhorn, former prime minister, on the will to establish a broad people’s party; absence of an endangered feeling for Germany among the people
Daan Slui
G.E. van Walsum

Lex van Weren, former musician, on the revival of entertainment life from 1938; absence of fear of German Nazism; his position as trumpeter in the army; the German invasion
J.C. de Wit
J.H. Scheps
Mr. Kwiet
2 (anonymous) German soldiers
H.W. Speet, farmer, about the German invasion near ‘s Heerenberg
4 other ‘border residents

The interviews were made for the VARA television production Een boterham met tevredenheid (55′) by Abram de Swaan and Paul van den Bos, broadcast on 1 May 1971.

The context of the film and the making of the interviews was covered in Vrije Geluiden, among other publications. VPRO programme magazine for TV and radio, no 18, 1-8 May 1971.
The interviewees talk about their work (skilled or unskilled) and any previous occupations or work circles.

Boon is a metal worker (plate presser) at DAF; Ten Dolle is a textile worker (stretcher) at the Enka in Emmen; Hilkhuyzen is a punch typist at the computer centre of an insurance company; Mathijsen – not included in the documentary – is a metal worker at Tomado; Oussoren is a cable braider at Draka; Spoelstra is a biscuit packer at Albert Heijn. The interview with Hilkhuyzen was conducted by Langebach.

Interviewees:

• M.H. Boon
• G.J. ten Dolle
• Mrs W. Hilkhuyzen
• Mr Mathijsen
• A.R. Oussoren
• Mrs Spoelstra-Leendert

Interviewer(s): Bram de Swaan, Laurie Langebach

De Swaan published the interviews in abridged form in his book Een boterham
met tevredenheid. Gesprekken met arbeiders, Amsterdam:
Van Gennep, 1972.

The interviews were conducted on behalf of and incorporated into the film Drugs, stuff for thought (René Swetter, SFW 1972). Five interviews concern users of soft drugs and (former) addicts of hard drugs. The experiences of the individuals range from twice ever smoking a stickie to twelve years of opium addiction. One interview concerns the wife of a (former) opium addict.

Drugs, stuff for thought was made on the initiative of Amsterdam psychiatrist Peter Geerlings. Faced with a great demand for information on drugs, Geerlings felt the need to add a film to the drug information package circulating in our country (such as a program by the Kritische Filmers from Breda, broadcasts by various broadcasters and school television and a series of publications). Geerlings particularly encountered a lack of information among people who deal with young people on a daily basis at schools, social academies, and training and youth centers. The film: Drugs, stuff for thought, is primarily intended for them. However, the makers of the film will also explore whether the viewing audience can be extended to young people themselves-“The problem with that, however,” says director René Swetter, “is that there are quite a few people who fear that young people will interpret this information about drugs as advertising.” A fear that seems unfounded. When you watch and listen to the seven young people who talk about their experience with drugs in the film You don’t undergo a reaction of, hey, I need to so badly too. There is only one boy in the entire film (Jaap, 32, publisher and unmarried says the commentary) who is able to integrate smoking hashish well into his function in social life. The other interviewees smoke. as a reaction to their environment and none of them seem really happy about it. The film therefore creates a somewhat distorted picture of drug use in the Netherlands. After all, Leuw has once again confirmed this with his research among schoolchildren: most users stick to some Incidental experimentation with cannabis.

The discussion film (short version) which focuses on breaking taboos around drug use can be found here: link naar archief