Among young people film is by far the most popular art form. The documentary,
the genre in which the Netherlands played a major role from way back, is not
that popular, however. How can a younger generation be made acquainted with
Ivens oeuvre, which belongs to the cultural heritage of the Netherlands? Although
the Foundation is not a public institution, an essential part of its activities
is to reach new target groups. With an attractive and challenging website and
offering a DVD packet the Foundation aims at making the Ivens film oeuvre available
to Dutch schools in a responsible way. The website, titled 'The Flying Dutchman,
a world trip in films by Joris Ivens' will allow making a journey through the
countries, historic events and films by Joris Ivens in an adventurous way. As
with every journey the user who clicks on the website can decide himself where
he is going to, what sort of trip it will be and what he wants to see. There
are three kinds of journeys: a receptive trip only providing information, an
educational trip allowing the traveler to get acquainted with all kinds of aspects
of film by doing assignments with film fragments, and finally a productive trip,
on which users can write a paper or make films themselves. Clicking on a country,
a period or a film title can choose the destination. The traveler can choose
what he wants to see by selecting one of four lines of approach: a biographical
with Ivens' life story; a filmic, a historic and an art historic.
The website is put on the Foundation's own site, but is especially available
through Kennisnet, the Dutch education domain, to which all schools will have
been connected by the end of 2001. Pupils from secondary education in particular
can learn on-line immediately, either in a classroom situation or by working
on their own. The site has a result meter, correction model and a helpdesk to
assist pupils, students and teachers.
Although the site in particular aims at secondary school pupils, it must also
be useful for other target groups. In the Netherlands film education is still
in its infancy, but all kinds of developments make a revival possible. Mid 2001
the Dutch Institute for Film Education was established, of which the Foundation
is a partner. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences has given film
a serious place in the curriculum with the introduction of new subjects and
examination requirements. Using new media like Internet and DVD film education
can be promoted further. The ICT project 'The Flying Dutchman' of the Foundation
has been made possible by a subsidy from the Ministry, which judged the application
of the project as the best. The website, which will be built in two years, will
become available in stages.