They are rare: film images from Brabant that are more than 100 years old. After a call from BrabantinBeelden, attics were searched and dozens of films from before the war were found and digitized. Marc Uijtendaal still had his grandfather’s films in the attic. “My grandfather made travel films, family films and images of the leather factory in Rijen when filming was still very expensive.” All pre-war films can now be viewed online by everyone.
BrabantinBeelden has been looking for the oldest films in Brabant for the past six months. The call was to search in the attic for images from before 1940. The oldest film is more than a century old with images from 1913 of Helmond and Den Bosch.
“When filming became more affordable after the war, Grandpa Leo stopped.”
Marc Uijtendaal responded to the call. “We are in my attic,” Marc begins. “Here in the corner were my grandfather Leo’s old films. Most of them have now been digitized.”
After his grandfather died in 1974, his parents kept the images. Ultimately they ended up in Marc’s attic. “There are films of trips to Lourdes, Rome and the Ardennes. Shots of the Moerdijk ferry and an Easter egg hunt in the garden. It is really beautiful to see your father and your uncle suddenly running through the screen.”
Images from before the war are special. There wasn’t much filming going on at the time. “It was very expensive, but grandpa was wealthy and had made it his hobby.” Grandpa Leo Uijtendaal was director of a leather factory, alderman and had a number of administrative positions. Marc never saw him filming. “When filming became more affordable after the war, grandpa stopped. Now it’s not necessary anymore, he thought,” says Marc, laughing.
“You can now watch images of grandpa and grandma.”
In Marc’s attic there are still a number of images from the 1930s, such as a trip from grandfather to Sweden. He watches them on an old projector. “There is no sound and you often don’t know what exactly you are looking at. Sometimes you really have to find out what it is about and where the images were taken. The most beautiful thing about those old images is the image of the times.”
The images of Grandpa Leo can now be viewed online. “Cousins and nieces don’t know anything yet. Now I can text and call them so they can watch images of our grandfather and grandmother.” The only thing Marc misses with the digital images is the sound of the projector, because there is no sound online.
Watch an excerpt from Grandpa Leo’s film collection here. All films can be found here.