OUD NAAR NIEUW (1957, FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW), director Allan Penning

EURHO Rural History 2015 Conference 7-10 September 2015, University of Girona, Spain Framing the Dutch Landscape Paper in Panel 73 ir. Peter Veer, University of Amsterdam (UvA), [email protected]

Logo of the Dissemination Department of Dutch ministry of Agriculture as shown in the film VAN OUD NAAR NIEUW (1957, FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW), director Allan Penning.

PhD thesis (Dutch title: Bewogen Lanschap) at the Faculty of the Humanities of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in the research priority ‘Cultural Heritage’

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in a match

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with the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. The main corpus of this study is the collection of 533 historic dissemination films distributed by the Dutch ministry of Agriculture in the period 1945-1985.4 Promotor is Prof. Dr. Frank P.I.M. van Vree (Media History, UvA). Co-promotors are Prof. Dr. R. (Rob) van der Laarse (Heritage and Memory Studies, UvA) and Prof. Dr. A. (Bert) Hogenkamp (Sound and Vision & Faculty of Arts, VU University Amsterdam). Parallel to the PhD research is a dissemination program about the heritage values of the modernist Post WW II landscapes conducted by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.5

Introduction In the last winter of the Second World War The Netherlands suffered hard. After the war the Dutch government implemented a comprehensive agriculture policy to revitalise the economic sector and modernise social and culture life in the countryside. This innovative

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http://www.uva.nl/en/contact/staff/item/p.m.veer.html?f=veer http://aihr.uva.nl/priority-areas/cultural-heritage-and-identity/cultural-heritage-and-identity.html 3 http://www.beeldengeluid.nl/en 4 Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij. (1984). Filmcatalogus. Den Haag. 5 http://www.culturalheritageagency.nl/en 2

overall ‘social engineering’ policy,6 lead by minister Sicco Mansholt (1908-1995), was very successful. Within a few years there was no need to import food and The Netherlands became one of the leading agriculture export nations of the world. Due to spatial, economic, social and cultural impact this transition in the Dutch countryside is unique in democratic Europe.7 The Dutch rural policies were an example for other countries. In 1958 Mansholt was appointed as the first agriculture commissioner of the European Economic Community. He implemented the Dutch policies on a European scale. This EC line of policy shaped Dutch and West European agriculture and rural life.8 Until 2013 the Mansholt doctrine remained the core of the European Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Now the new CAP is implemented and this process will have influences on the European rural areas.9 It will change the relationships between the physical, social and cultural factors that shape the use, design, maintenance and meaning of the countryside. And it will change the discussions about the heritage values of cultural landscapes.

Transformation of the Dutch countryside in dissemination films The Dutch post WW II agriculture policy transformed the ‘traditional’ countryside into ‘modern’.10 The Rural Extension Services conducted an intensive dissemination program to rationalise agricultural working methods of the farmers. Not only did the daily life on the farms and in the villages changed dramatically, modernisation was also mend to be implemented in the culture of the rural people by ‘social engineering’ strategies.11 The use of an impressive collection of dissemination films was embedded in the communication mix. The historic agriculture dissemination films intended to implement the abstract policies into the heart and minds of the rural people by well-chosen cinematographic techniques.12

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. (5th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Ltd.; Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing like a state, how cerain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 7 Bieleman, J. (2008). Boeren in Nederland. Geschiedenis van de landbouw 1500-2000. Boom. 8 Merriënboer, v. J. (2006). Mansholt. Een biografie. Amsterdam: Boom. 9 Ministerie van Economische Zaken. (2013). Rijksoverheid. Retrieved 2013-27-2 from Hervorming gemeenschappelijk landbouwbeleid: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/europees-landbouwbeleid-envisserijbeleid/hervorming-gemeenschappelijk-landbouwbeleid 10 Andela, G. (2000). Kneedbaar landschap, Kneedbaar volk. (Diss). Bussum: Thoth. 11 Karel, E. (2005). De maakbare boer. Streekverbetering als instrument van het Nederlandse landbouwbeleid. (Diss). Groningen, Wageningen: NHAI; Schuyt, K., & Taverne, E. (2000). 1950, Welvaart in zwart-wit; Scott, J. C. (1998); Lucassen, L. (2011). Staatvorming, democratisering en sociale zorg: sociaal-politieke ontwikkelingen. In K. M. Davids, De wereld & Nederland, Een sociale en economische geschiedenis van de laatste duizend jaar. Amsterdam: Boom. 12 Hogenkamp, B. (2003). De documentaire film 1945-1965. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010. 6

2 Paper EURHO 2015 Conference Panel 73 © Peter Veer Amsterdam, August 28th 2015 for UvA and BenG

In this project I analyse the collection of Dutch historic agriculture dissemination films. The main corpus of the study is the collection of utility films

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distributed by the Film

unit (1948-1984) of the ministry of Agriculture. This unit distributed the films mainly to be shown to farmers, countrywomen and their workers. In 1957 there were more than 3.000 viewings in rural community houses, village pubs and local agricultural schools.14 The last distribution catalogue of the unit was published in 1984. A total of 533 productions are listed. The core of the collection consists of 196 films commissioned by the ministry itself. The other films were produced in foreign countries or by other Dutch agricultural organisations. The first films commissioned by the ministry of Agriculture in the collection date from 1943. In this period of time the Netherlands were under NaziGerman occupation. The Marshall Plan played a significant role in the growth of the collection in the early post-Word War II years.15

Research questions The collection of agriculture dissemination films is a rich source to analyse the representation of social, cultural and environmental processes in rural areas. The films represent the Dutch rural modernisation policy in the post World War II period. They also reflect considerations on public communication, rural policy-making, and the role audiovisuals can play in the process. The films do not show the modernisation process itself. They represent the intentions of the ministry of Agriculture and rural organisations to implement, by social engineering, the transition to modern country life in the physical, social and cultural domains of the rural communities. The study focuses on the representation of the landscape in the films. The hypothesis of my research project is that these representations of the paradigms on ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ farming, rural life and landscapes are still present in contemporary European discourses on landscape, heritage and identity. This research has an interdisciplinary character in the tradition of cultural studies16 and connects rural history17 to film studies18 and cultural heritage studies.19

Hediger, V., & Vondereau, P. (2009). Films that Work. Industrial Film and the Productivity of Media. Amsterdam. 14 De ontwikkeling van de landbouwfilm. (01-04-1957). Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, p. 9. 15 Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij. (1984); Dingemans, R. e. (1997). Nederland en het Marshall-plan, Een bronnenoverzicht en filmografie (1947-1953). Den Haag: Algemeen Rijksarchief.; Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij en Voedselvoorziening. (1948). Films. Afdeling Voorlichting. 's-Gravenhage: Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij en Voedselvoorziening. 16 Hall, S. (1997). Representation, Cultural Representations and Signifying Practicies. 17 Bieleman, J. (2008). 18 Allen, R. C. (1985). Filmhistory, Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc. 19 Laarse, R. v. (2005). Erfgoed en de constructie van vroeger. In R. v. Laarse (Ed.), Bezeten van vroeger. Erfgoed, identiteit en musealisering.; Lowenthal, D. (1985). The Past is a Foreign Country. Cambridge.; Hobsbawn, E. And T. Rager (1992). The invetion of tradition. Cambridge. 13


The results of this study will give insight into the repertoires of representations of the ‘modern’, ‘tradition’ and ‘change’ found within the historic agriculture films. The research will be conducted on several levels: a. the context; b. narrative; c. the content of images and sounds and the symbolic meaning. The outcome of the study will be, amongst others, repertoires on cinematographic grass root level. This insight will enhance the developing of new repertoires of frames for future audiovisuals on abstract global ‘ecological quests’ such as climate change, environmental degeneration, cultural heritage values of agriculture landscapes and ruralurban lifestyles relations.20 The results can also be used in a proposal for an archivebased documentary ‘Landscape - Mindscape', about the making of the modern European Countryside (1945-1985).21 Topics to be addressed in Panel 73 The question I want to raise on the EURHO Rural History 2015 Conference is: what are the main elements in the storylines and cinematographic designs that represent the cultural transformation of rural life? This relates to topics discussed in Panel # 2: The rise of agribusiness …, # 26: Post-War agricultural rationalization and the welfare state, # 34: Conceptions of Space and Time …, # 47: The ‘embellishment of rural life’ in Europe … and # 60: Rural Citizens: representations of people and politics …’.22 On the conference I will show sequences out of three films.23 Main theme in the three films is the integrated renewal of the physical, social and cultural domain in the countryside. The themes in the sequences are: 1. What is the most iconic representation in the film of ‘traditional’ rural progam? 2. How does iconic ‘modern’ rural program look like in the film? 3. Who are the main characters in the film and how do they relate to each other? 4. What character makes the most significant change in the story line of the film? The first film is ISLAND OF FAITH / EILAND VAN VERTROUWEN (1950). The film tells about the inundation of the island Walcheren by the allied forces in 1944 to get control over the Antwerp harbour. In the early post war period the land consolidation of Walcheren was a Rovers, R. (2010). Te lang in de Al-Gore-Modus. IDFA Dagkrant, 22-11 , 5,1; Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. (2011). Klimaatverandering, wetenschap en debat; During, R. (2010). Cultural Heritage Dicourses and Europeanisation. (Diss). Wageningen. 21 Bloemhevel, M. G. (Red.). (2012). Found Footage Cinema Exposed. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Universety Press / EYE Film Institute Netherlands. 22 http://www.ruralhistory2015.org/papers.html 23 The fragments will be shown on the hidden web page: http://www.smc94.nl/530-fragments-three-films 20


test case for the Dutch government to implement a new integrated strategy to change agriculture and rural life. By special law and with the help of Marshall budgets the dikes were repaired, soils made fertile again, a new landscape created, modern farming methods implemented. The film shows the main steps in the process to make Walcheren ‘the garden of Holland’ again so it can contribute to the vulnerable European food production just after WW II. The second film is VAN OUD NAAR NIEUW (1957, FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW) represent the new Land Consolidation Act (1954). This law, a key project of the Mansholt policy, can be seen as one of the most powerful instruments of the Dutch state to change the structure in the agriculture sector and rural life. Land consolidation projects in the Netherlands were initiated by local organisations, implemented by a central government agency and conducted on local scale. Landowners (farmers) had to vote about the project before it could be conducted. The film story does not tell about the aims, procedure or the context of the national land consolidation program. The film is about the benefits for an individual farmer in the ‘new situation’ compared to ‘the old’. The film ALLES WISSELT (1982, EVERYTHING CHANGES) was produced just before a major change in the Land Consolidation Act was put in practice in 1984. No longer the farmers had the right to vote about a project but the regional government. In this third film agriculture is not the main, or at least the most significant, land user. Tourism, natural conservation and cultural heritage are also in the field and on the agenda. The main argument the film would like to make is that function and physical appearance of the countryside is dynamic and that all the participating citizens have to decide about the future function, equipment and design of the ‘green space’. At the conference I would like to discuss not only the answers on the four questions for the three films separate. I would like to investigate their relationships to look for the answer on the question: What cultural change does the films represent on the four subjects? On the EURHO Rural History 2015 Conference I also would like to investigate the possibilities for a future research project on the significance of agriculture extension films on a European level24 as suggested in 2009 by Prof. Dr. Bert Hogenkamp.25 (1.603 words) i.g. http://ruralmedia.eu, Juste Manta, A. (Red.). (2008?). Cine y mundo rural. Madrid: SAECA.; http://agriculture.gouv.fr/le-cinematographe-agricole Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Agroalimentaire et de la Foret. (2015, 07 24). Le cinematographe agricole. Opgeroepen op 07 27, 2015, van Alim'agri: http://agriculture.gouv.fr/le-cinematographe-agricole; Martens, E. (Red.). Agricultures. Brussels: Royal Belgian Film Archive. / Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF online.eu 25 Hogenkamp, B. (2009). To advance agriculture. Agriculturel films in France, the Netherlands and Spain. Baarn: Kasteel Groeneveld. 24


References Allen, R. C. (1985). Filmhistory, Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc. Andela, G. (2000). Kneedbaar landschap, Kneedbaar volk. (Diss). Bussum: Thoth. Bieleman, J. (2008). Boeren in Nederland. Geschiedenis van de landbouw 1500-2000: Amsterdam: Boom. Blom, A. (ed.). (2013). Ontwerpen aan de stad. Atlas van de wederopbouw, Nederland 1940-1965. Rotterdam: nai010 uitgevers. Bloemhevel, M. G. (ed.). (2012). Found Footage Cinema Exposed. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Universety Press / EYE Film Institute Netherlands. Davids, K. (ed.). (2011) De wereld & Nederland, Een sociale en economische geschiedenis van de laatste duizend jaar. Amsterdam: Boom. Dingemans, R. (ed.). (1997). Nederland en het Marshall-plan, Een bronnenoverzicht en filmografie (1947-1953). Den Haag: Algemeen Rijksarchief. During, R. (2010). Cultural Heritage Dicourses and Europeanisation. (Diss). Wageningen. Hall, S. (1997). Representation, Cultural Representations and Signifying Practicies. Hediger, V., Vondereau, P. (2009). Films that Work. Industrial Film and the Productivity of Media. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Hobsbawn, E., T. Rager. (1992). The invetion of tradition. Cambridge. Hogenkamp, B. (2003). De documentaire film 1945-1965. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010. Hogenkamp, B. (2009). To advance agriculture. Agriculturel films in France, the Netherlands and Spain. Baarn: Kasteel Groeneveld. Janssen, J. K. (2008). The Heritage of the Productive Landscape. Landscape Design for Rural Areas in the Netherlands, 1954 – 1985. Landscape Research. , Vol. 33, Iss. 1,. Juste Manta, A. (ed.). (2008?). Cine y mundo rural. Madrid: SAECA. Karel, E. (2013). Boeren tussen markt en maatschappij. Groningen / Wageningen: N.A.H.I. Karel, E. (2005). De maakbare boer. Streekverbetering als instrument van het Nederlandse landbouwbeleid. (Diss). Groningen / Wageningen: NHAI. Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. (2011). Klimaatverandering, wetenschap en debat. Laarse, R. v. (2005). Erfgoed en de constructie van vroeger. In R. v. Laarse (Ed.), bezeten van vroeger. Erfgoed, identiteit en musealisering. Amsterdam. Lowenthal, D. (1985). The Past is a Foreign Country. Cambridge. Martens, E. (ed.). Agricultures. Brussels: Royal Belgian Film Archive. Meadows, D. H. (1972). The Limits of growth. A report for the Club of Rome Project ... New York: Universe Books. Meeus, J. (1984). Op zoek naar een instrumentarium voor de ontwerpkritiek in de landschapsarchitectuur. Wageningen: Landbouwhogeschool. Merriënboer, van. J. (2006). Mansholt. Een biografie. Amsterdam: Boom. Minderhoud, G. (ed.). (1954). Veenman's Agrarische Winkler Prins. Encyclopedie Voor Landbouw, Tuinbouw en Bosbouw. Wageningen: Veenman. Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij en Voedselvoorziening. (1948). Films. 's-Gravenhage. 6 Paper EURHO 2015 Conference Panel 73 © Peter Veer Amsterdam, August 28th 2015 for UvA and BenG

Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij. (1960). Films 1960. 's-Gravenhage. Ministerie van Landbouw en Visserij. (1984). Filmcatalogus. Den Haag. Nieuwsblad van het Noorden. (1957-04-01). De ontwikkeling van de landbouwfilm. Nieuwsblad van het Noorden , p. 9. Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. (1996). FilmVideo. Den Haag: Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst. Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. (5th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Ltd. Rovers, R. (2010). Te lang in de Al-Gore-Modus. IDFA Dagkrant, 22-11 , 5,1. Schuyt, K., & Taverne, E. (2000). 1950, Welvaart in zwart-wit. Den Haag: Sdu Uitgevers. Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing like a state, how cerain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Veer, P. (2010). Verkenning Beleid zoekt nieuwe boer. Alterra Wageningen UR / SMC Amsterdam. Wageningen: Alterra Wageningen UR. Vereniging voor landbouwgeschiedenis. (1999). Filmprogramma Het belang van den boer. Wageningen. Vos, C. (2004). Bewegend verleden. Inleiding in de analyse van films en televisieprogramma's. Amsterdam: Boom Lemma Uitgevers. Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid. (2014). Met kennis van gedrag beleid maken. Den Haag / Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Wit, de. H. (2000). Blik op het land. Utrecht: Stichting Nederlands Filmfestival. Films Ferno, J. (Director). (1945). Broken Dikes / (1950). Eiland Van Vertrouwen [Motion Picture]. Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGjKIPiSnu0 (English version without the scenes about the land consolidation). Goudsmit, J. (Director). (1982). Alles Wisselt [Motion Picture]. Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPDijiXIUgk (Dutch spoken). Penning, A. (Director). (1957). Van Oud Naar Nieuw [Motion Picture]. Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw3Cvzv4v_o&index=5&list=PL5X5Uv5arwuOm0qeyfRaYoUNp7hZcKw1 (Dutch spoken). The fragments of the three films metioned in this paper are connected to a hidden internet page on: http://www.smc94.nl/530-fragments-three-films.php Web sites Deutsches Filminstitut. Retrieved 2013-15-10 from Filmarchives Online.: http://www.filmarchives-online.eu Dienst Landelijk Gebied. Betere landbouwstructuur door ruilverkaveling Land van Maas en Waal. Retrieved 2013-02-04 from Dienst Landelijk Gebied: http://www.dienstlandelijkgebied.nl/xmlpages/page/dlg/actueel/nieuwsitem/nieuwsberic ht/2028941 Ministerie van Economische Zaken. (2013). Rijksoverheid. Retrieved 2013-2-27 from Hervorming gemeenschappelijk landbouwbeleid: 7 Paper EURHO 2015 Conference Panel 73 © Peter Veer Amsterdam, August 28th 2015 for UvA and BenG

http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/europees-landbouwbeleid-envisserijbeleid/hervorming-gemeenschappelijk-landbouwbeleid Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. beeldengeluid-about. Retrieved 2011-07-12 from http://www.beeldengeluid.nl/en Ruralmedia. (2013). Ruralmedia. Retrieved 2013 from http://www.ruralmedia.eu/index.php Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Agroalimentaire et de la Foret. (2015-07-24). Le cinematographe agricole. Retrieved 2015-07-27 from Alim'agri: http://agriculture.gouv.fr/le-cinematographe-agricole Rijksdienst Cultureel Erfgoed. Cultural Heritage Agency. Home. Retrieved 2015-07-24 from Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands: http://culturalheritageagency.nl/en Universiteit van Amsterdam. (2012-25-09). Unity and Diversity of Europe. Retrieved 2013-04-01 from Amsterdam Centre for Cultural Heritage and Identity: http://aihr.uva.nl/priority-areas/cultural-heritage-and-identity/cultural-heritage-andidentity.html


OUD NAAR NIEUW (1957, FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW), director Allan Penning

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