Geoffrey Donaldson Institute

13 Jul 2026

Together with film curator Jesse van Dijl (Alkmaar Regional Archives) and film digitisation expert Guido Bruin (Bruinfilm), I visited the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute in Noord-Scharwoude. The institute is named after Geoffrey Donaldson (1929–2002), an Australian film historian who was considered the first film historian in the Netherlands.

Many people are familiar with the Eye National Film Museum, which focuses on film as an art form. It is located in Amsterdam and, in addition to its own revenue (such as ticket sales), receives a significant government subsidy each year. The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision is located in Hilversum and covers a broad media landscape (radio, television, music, games, web archives). B&G performs public service functions and is largely funded by taxpayer money (though it also receives additional income from grants and contributions from broadcasting companies). Both institutions are responsible for our national audio-visual collections.

The lesser-known Geoffrey Donaldson Institute (GDI) in Noord-Scharwoude is a private initiative that operates entirely independently. After my visit, I developed a great deal of admiration for the GDI. It is essentially a volunteer-run organization and a tribute to the craft and history of film, though it lacks the scale or resources of Eye or Sound and Vision. The GDI has the following objectives:

Research on Dutch film production and film history
Preservation of film culture
Collecting films, books, photographs, and press materials
Publishing research works and exhibition catalogs
Promoting a love of cinema through lectures and events

The GDI is located in a beautiful building that features a fully equipped screening room on the top floor, fitted with 16mm and 35mm film projectors. Egbert Barten screened several 35mm films for us, including one print that he had preserved and restored at Haghefilm in Waddinxveen.

In September 2025, a documentary about the institute — Hidden Gem of Langedijk — was even released, premiering at the Film by the Sea festival.

Voorgevel GDI. — Het Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

If you ever need a book or are looking for a specific film, you can consult their extensive library. They also publish their own books; one of their publications is titled Tot de laatste akte (Until the Final Act), which is about Dutch private film collectors. I have a copy of it – it’s a fantastic book, highly recommended. It can be ordered through the GDI.

Een gigantische bibliotheek. — A view inside the library.

The driving force and initiator of the GDI is Egbert Barten. He is the director and founder of the Geoffrey Donaldson Institute. After studying English and History, Egbert worked successively at the Amsterdam City Archives and the Netherlands Film Museum.

Links Egbert Barten, rechts Jesse van Dijl. Een 70mm projector staat op de voorgrond. — Left Egbert Barten, right Jesse van Dijl. On the foreground a 70mm movie projector.

If you ever meet Egbert in person, you’ll agree with me that he’s an enthusiastic, passionate film lover. That’s also why he’s sometimes offered entire private film collections to add to the GDI. And that’s how the GDI keeps growing. Egbert has clearly established an institution of which he is, quite rightly, very proud.

A guided tour really shows just how diverse the GDI is. For example, they have a collection of movie posters, including this special one for Jacques Tati’s Playtime—a film I saw for the first time while studying at the AKI art academy.