Eye Filmmuseum opens up the world of film. Behind the scenes, in the cinemas, at schools, at the exhibitions, online or outdoors: we do everything we can to let film enter you. From visitor to researcher, from primary school pupil to art connoisseur: film opens your eyes, film touches you. Film encourages action, encourages reflection. We preserve and restore films so that we can continue to share new perspectives on cinema in the future. Join us on this endless journey of discovery and lose your heart to film too.

Eye Filmmuseum shows you more. For over 75 years, of which over ten years inextricably linked to the IJ.

In Eye you can enjoy special programmes in four state-of-the-art cinemas and be amazed at what is happening at the intersection of film and visual arts. You can also get to work interactively with film history in the exhibition What is Film? in the 360° Panorama, where
hundreds of film fragments can be called up.

Eye is praised for the way in which it brings film history and contemporary developments to the fore – from the very earliest newsreels and silent films to experimental
art, from classic Hollywood films and unruly avant-garde film to world cinema.

The film palace house for film on the IJ houses no fewer than sixty thousand films and various special collections of film equipment, posters, and stills. Archives of filmmakers and historical figures from film and cinema culture can also be found there. Many films from the collection can be viewed (often free of charge) on the streaming service Eye Film Player, such as these
films about Amsterdam.

In addition, Eye is very active in the field of film preservation and restoration, of which Dutch tulips and clogs is an example. The film, composed of two short film fragments, ‘Hollandse tulpen’ can be seen here in the tulip month of April. The film consists of two short fragments. The first fragment – ​​Hollandse tulpen – shows men and women working in the flower bulb fields. The film was made for a Dutch audience and promotes giving flowers as a gift.

Hollandse tulpen was probably made by the Dutch branch of Pathé Frères, the Kinematograaf Pathé Frères. This can be seen in the way in which colour was applied to the film, by means of stencilling: a technique that is typical of Pathé and was not used by other Dutch companies. The second fragment shows children playing on the island of Marken, the children wearing traditional costumes.

Both subjects – flower bulb fields and Dutch costumes – were popular with a foreign audience. They fit into the cliché image of the Netherlands.