Philips-Radio (1931)

Directed by

Joris Ivens

Genre

documentary film

Country

Netherlands

Runtime

34 min

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 17 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short documentary shows how Philips radios were made in a Dutch factory in 1931. It focuses on the machines and the workers moving together in a rhythmic process. This film was the first Dutch movie with sound.

observationalrhythmicindustrialmechanicalhistorically importantmeticuloussilent-era aesthetic

What happens

Philips-Radio is a 1931 Dutch documentary short film directed by Joris Ivens. Commissioned by Philips, the film served as a promotional tool to showcase the latest production processes of Philips radios in the company's facilities in Eindhoven. The cinematography, led by Ivens, captured the rhythmic interaction between machinery and factory workers, portraying the manufacturing procedures. Ivens made the decision to engage a Paris-based studio to integrate sound techniques into the film, making it the first Dutch sound film ever produced. The film is on permanent display in the 20th-century section of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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