
Jan Teunissen
Editing
Biography
Gerardus Johannes 'Jan' Teunissen (1898 - 1975) was a Dutch film director. He made his debut as a director in the early 1930s with short avant-garde films Pierement (1931) and Sjabbos (1932). On request, he then directed the first official Dutch sound film: Willem van Oranje. When the film flopped, he gave up on being a director and worked as an editor on a number of Dutch feature films. In the first years of the Second World War Teunissen joined Anton Mussert's National Socialist Movement (NSB) and became the head of the Filmgilde, producing a number of National Socialist propaganda films. Soon after this he became head of the Rijksfilmkeuring and was offered an honorary membership of the Dutch SS. Because of his collaboration with the Germans, Teunissen was banned from the profession of film director after the war and received a prison sentence of several years.
Known For

A group of travelers find themselves stranded for the night at a deserted train station, which according to the old stationmaster, has been haunted for the last 20 years.
The Ghost Train

Still coming to terms with the death of her mother, Willy Verhulst loses her father as well -- just as she is about to sit her final exams. She manages to pass, and as she is trying to find a job she remembers a young man she met in the hospital. The boy, Herder, works for a radio station and gives her a job as a secretary.
Tomorrow It Will Be Better

Drawing on previously unpublished interviews, journals, family footage and propaganda films, The Propagandist tracks the rise and fall of the Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen, who lived from 1898 to 1975.
The Propagandist

Mobilization on the brink of the Second World War divides a husband and wife. When lawyer Frans van Loon is called up to join the mine clearance service he doesn't want to worry his wife and keeps it from her. His secretiveness leads her to believe he doesn't love her anymore. She subsequently falls for the charms of an actor. When Frans finds out, a violent quarrel ensues.
Somewhere in the Netherlands

This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.
Forty Years

When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.
Pygmalion

The first 'official' Dutch sound film was presented as a historic document on the history of the Netherlands, highlighting the importance of prince William of Orange's role during the Eighty Years war. His story is told in a series of short episodes, spanning his sudden rise to prince of Orange in 1844 to his murder by Balthasar Gerards in 1584.
William of Orange

Drummel is an accountant who gets acquainted with the Amsterdam nightlife. He and his secretary Mary are suspected for having committed theft.
Amsterdam bij nacht

Merijntje Gijzen is a small boy growing up in Brabant, in the south of the Netherlands. One day, out on one of his walks, he meets infamous poacher 'De Kruik,' and the two become friends. De Kruik is in love with Janekee but she is more interested in the new village policeman.
Merijntje Gijzen's Boyhood

Peter Gruber, a young tenor from Vienna, gives piano lessons to Daisy, the daughter of a dentist. They fall in love and when Gruber has to perform in Antwerp, Daisy follows him there. She pretends to be an American musician and manages to get a job with Gruber's orchestra. Daisy's worried father sets off in pursuit of his daughter, accompanied by a certain miss Lola.
Op een avond in mei

Diary fragments tell of the arrival of Belgian refugees across the Dutch border in winter 1915. Reserve lieutenant Berkhage returns from the Belgian border with a refugee child. Named "Big" by the company the kid soon becomes the regimental darling.
De big van het regiment

Judy Aalders grows up in an orphanage. Albert Woudenberg happens to be present when Judy confronts the trustees of the orphanage and is expelled. He decides to send her to university and Judy, who has only ever seen his shadowy long legs, refers to him as 'Daddy-Long-Legs' from that day. Not knowing he is in fact her benefactor, Judy's relationship with Albert gradually turns into love.
Daddy Long Legs
Avant-gardist portrait of a street in Amsterdam where a street organist arrives.
Pierement
An antifascist Dutch family living under German occupation prepares for the arrival of the English liberators -- who never arrive. Short NSB propaganda film that mocks the rumors of upcoming liberation that were circulating in the Netherlands.