Bert Haanstra

A short film in which person, place, and life itself in Holland are filmed through the mirror of bodies of water.

A short "process documentary" about a glassworks in the Netherlands.

Who is watching who in the zoo? Is it the visitors watching the animals, or do the animals consider the visitors to be a nice view. Dutch director Bert Haanstra placed hidden cameras in the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, filming both the reactions of animal and man on eachother. Giving a decisive answer on the who is watching who question is not going to be easy. (imdb)

After a fight the brass band in a small village splits up into two separate bands. They both want to win a contest and will do anything to prevent the other band from winning it. (imdb)

In 1952, Haanstra made Panta Rhei , another view of Holland through the eyes of a painter and filmmaker. Its poetic images of water, skies and clouds reflect Haanstra's own moods. People are conspicuously absent from Haanstra's earliest films. (Surreal Moviez)

As a dyed-in-the-wool Bert Haanstra fan I still wasn't prepared for the brilliance of his REMBRANDT: PAINTER OF MAN. This is documentary film at its highest level. The 20-minute opus consists solely of pan & scan (for detail) shots of actual Rembrandt paintings, with a helpful narrator (in Dutch or English) giving the key details of his life and the import of his work, ranging from portraits to the legendary "Night Watch". (imdb)

The Dutch Wadden Islands are a group of islands off the coast of the Netherlands. They include Schiermonnikoog, Ameland, Terschelling and Texel. Some are car-free and popular with cyclists as holiday islands. Nature is unique on these islands. Each of them is unique and worth a visit. Experience one of the last paradises in Europe. (imdb)

Documentary about the craft and art of glass making.

Post-war Dutch film documentaries received international acclaim for their picturesque qualities. Here Bert Haanstra filmed the closing of the Veerse Gat, a sea arm between two islands in the province of Zeeland that was dammed in 1961 as part of the Delta Works. The film was widely shown abroad and thus made a significant contribution to the Netherlands image as a country battling against water. (rijksmuseum.nl)

Dutch documentary about the consequences of the construction of a dam.

Haanstra documentary portrays the Dutch population with all its peculiarities. Often in scenes that were shot with a hidden camera .

Haanstra goes out to find parallels between humans and animals.

A small-town doctor gets a visit from a former study-friend. He doesn't know this former surgeon has become a junkie that wants to steal his morphine. (imdb)

Examines the social structure of chimps.