The filmmaker Joris Ivens was the son of C.A.P. Ivens, owner of the CAPI photography shop in Nijmegen. With the help of his father’s employees, in the 1910s the young Joris Ivens made the short film De wigwam, with roles for his parents, brothers, and sisters. Ivens studied economics and photography. From the end of the 1920s, he was one of the vital figures in the world of Dutch avant-garde film. As a technical consultant, he was involved with the Filmliga, and made important avant-garde films like De brug and Regen. He also founded the film company Studio Joris Ivens, where young, enthusiastic filmmakers could find a home. The Studio was the cradle of experimental film in the early 1930s. Ivens developed into a political filmmaker, and with films like Borinage, Spanish Earth, and Indonesia Calling!, he grew into a leading documentary filmmaker.

Filmography

• 2008Een oude vriend van het Chinese volk
• 1989A Tale of the Wind — Self, Director, Screenplay, Dialogue
• 1986Havre — le docteur Digitalis
• 1980Ciné-mafia
• 1977The Kazakhs — Director, Writer
• 1977The Uyghurs — Director, Writer
• Comment Yukong déplaça les montagnes — Director
• 1976How Yukong Moved the Mountains — Editor, Director
• 1976The Football Incident — Director
• 1976The Pharmacy: Shanghai — Director
• 1970Hommage à Ho Chi Minh — Director
• 1970Meeting with President Ho Chi Minh — Director, Writer, Editor
• 1970The People and Their Guns — Director, Writer
• 1969Some Evidence — Director
• 1968The 17th Parallel — Director, Writer
• 1967Far from Vietnam — Director
• 1966Rotterdam-Europoort — Director, Writer
• 1966The Mistral — Scenario Writer, Director
• 1966The Threatening Sky — Interviewer, Director
• 1965Aah... Tamara
• 1964Le train de la victoire — Director
• 1964Valparaiso — Director
• 1963The Small Tent — Director
• 1962To Arms, We Are Fascists! — Thanks
• 1961Carnet de viaje — Director
• 1961Cuba, a People Armed — Director, Writer
• 1961Pueblo en armas — Writer, Director
• 1960Demain à Nanguila — Director
• 1960Italy Is Not a Poor Country — Editor, Director
• 1958Letters from China — Writer, Director
• 1957The Seine Meets Paris — Director, Writer
• 1957The Wind Rose — Director, Producer
• 1956Bold Adventure — Director
• 1956My Child — Director
• 1954Song of the Rivers — Writer, Editorial Coordinator, Director
• 1952Peace Race 1952 — Director
• 1951Friendship Triumphs — Director
• 1951Peace Will Win — Director, Writer
• 1949Polsko — Director
• 1949The First Years — Director, Editor
• 1946Indonesia Calling — Director, Editor, Writer
• 1945Know Your Enemy: Japan — Co-Director
• 1943Action Stations — Director
• 1943Corvette Port Arthur — Director
• 1942Our Russian Front — Director
• 1940Power and the Land — Director, Writer
• 1939The 400 Million — Director, Writer, Director of Photography
• 1937The Spanish Earth — Writer, Director
• 1936The Struggle — Screenplay
• 1934Borinage — Director, Writer, Director of Photography
• 1933New Earth — Director, Writer, Camera Operator
• 1932Creosote — Scenario Writer, Director, Editor, Camera Operator
• 1932Song of Heroes — Director, Editor
• 1931Philips-Radio — Director, Writer
• 1930We Are Building — Editor, Scenario Writer, Director, Camera Operator
• 1930Zuiderzeewerken — Director, Director of Photography, Writer
• 1929Branding — Director, Cinematography
• 1929Piling — Director
• 1929Rain — Director, Editor, Writer, Director of Photography
• 1928Movement Studies in Paris — Director, Editor, Cinematography
• 1928The Bridge — Director, Editor, Cinematography
• 1912The Flaming Arrow — Flaming Arrow, Director, Scenario Writer

Appearances as themselves (6)

• 2010Memória Cubana — Self (archive footage)
• Midi Première — Self
• 1973Grierson — Self
• 1966World Without a Game — Self
• 1964Skoop — Self
• Les années Juliet - Chronique d’un Filmeur — Self