Mannus Franken(1899-1953)

Mannus Franken played an important role in the development of the Dutch documentary film in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Working in Paris as a journalist, he became the France representative for a group of artists and intellectuals in the Netherlands called "Filmliga," a league which organized screenings of films there that had been banned by local authorities such as Pudovkin's "Mother"or that did not have a commercial chance. Filmliga also published a magazine. Franken invited filmmakers from Paris to visit Holland and obtained copies of some of their avant garde work for showing La. He also gave lectures on film and wrote plays.