Frans Zwartjes

Frans Zwartjes studied music and played viola for five years with the Netherlands Opera. He went on to be a painter and sculptor, especially of experimental objects. Since the end of the 1960s, Zwartjes has been known for his grainy black-and-white films and inspiring free teaching methods, which he put into practice at the Design Academy Eindhoven, the Free Academy of Visual Art in The Hague and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Zwartjes has made more than 50 films, many of which are widely known internationally. American writer and filmmaker Susan Sontag once described him as "the most important experimental filmmaker of his time" and in 1990 he received the Ouborg Award for his work as a visual artist. In 2005, he was the subject of a documentary by filmmaker – and former student – Ruud Monster, titled The Great Wizard. An important part of Zwartjes' work has been preserved, restored and taken up in the experimental film collection of the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Frans Zwartjes passed away in November 2017 in The Hague, at the age of 90.

International Film Festival Rotterdam