EYE Filmmuseum (The Netherlands): First World War Films

>> View collection For the EFG1914 project, EYE is contributing more than 300 film items totaling about 100 hours, and more than 900 film posters from the 1910s. The films are selected according to various criteria. Newsreels, travelogues and also fiction films from the period of 1914 to 1918 from numerous countries are included. Furthermore, a number of films preceding and  following this period are added to the selection, such as documentation about the Boer War, Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and Italian-Turkish war on Libia (1911-1912), as well as several documentaries made shortly after the end of the War, showing its aftermath.

The Netherlands was among the neutral countries, yet it also got involved in the war in various ways: Belgian refugees were kept and aided, troops of British soldiers were stationed near the borders of Germany, the production of goods and international trade were affected. After the war, Kaiser Wilhelm and his wife got exiled to the Netherlands and lived in Soest until his death. The film material received through his legacy is also represented among the EYE films on the EFG1914 portal.

EYE film collection has an international character, due to its collection policy based on collecting all kinds of films that were distributed in the country. This variety is also reflected in the selection; films from ten countries are presented, including USA, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.