The Dutch Animation Collection: a work in progress

Dutch animation film has a history that goes back to the first decades of the twentieth century. Over the course of this history many Dutch animation film-makers have been internationally successful; their work has been shown at major festivals and they have received many awards. This text observes that many of these films became unknown for contemporary audiences. The situation of the Dutch animation heritage will be investigated in more detail, and touch upon the contemporary position of animation film in the field of preservation and film archives in general. The focus of the text will be the practice of a research project initiated by the Netherlands Institute for Animation Film (NIAf) that intends to enhance the safeguarding of Dutch animation, and by doing so making films accessible and available for research and public presentations.