Eindhoven on video

For those with too much time on their hands and a particular hobbyhorse, in my case familiarizing myself with my current living environment, the www offers nice visual finds that inform, wipe the doors of perception a bit cleaner, just increase one’s appreciation for the already known, or provide a motivational jolt.

A quick search for what might be on offer regarding Eindhoven revealed enough for a post. As with so much else in this supposedly international town, lots is Dutch language only, but the advantage of visuals over text is that language is often unimportant or secondary.

Those interested in Eindhoven’s past can find interesting moving images online. I used a fascinating short video on the 1960s city in my post on Eindhoven and unimpeded forward movement, and one can find plenty more of those kind of videos. However, beyond images there isn’t much telling a story apart from this English language documentary on Eindhoven’s industrial history that was very recently uploaded:

As far as the present goes, there is a couple of promo videos like the ThisisEindhoven one on my home page, but in my honest opinion, none have the tang of real works of art that some in this genre of city celebrations are. So by way of making up for what this city of lights could have produced, enjoy this Tokyo substitute:

And as I am off topic anyway, let me squeeze in a short (1952!) documentary by one of our greatest film directors ever, Bert Haanstra, as evidence that in my country this kind of hallucinogenic visual imagination predates the current tech-crazy times (and yes, I am a fan, and have embedded another classic of his in an earlier post):

OK, after these two works of art, you’ll have to do with something much more mundane, a bit of drone footage, but at least it is on topic. Nothing special other than that it offers you the one curiously lacking perspective on our home town: the birds-eye view. I haven’t lived in a city yet that didn’t have a publicly accessible high building offering a view from above. Wouldn’t know where to go for that in Eindhoven so this’ll have to do:

For the centennial of its 1920 merger with the five adjoining municiplities into (greater) Eindhoven, the city commissioned the next film. No subtitles so that makes you wonder about how internationally inclusive its mindset actually is. But be that as it may, the piece of organ music setting the rhythm of this self presentation, specifically composed for it, makes for a worthwhile multi-sensory experience.

Then, since 2018 there is a yearly Eindhoven Christmas film, lo and behold subtitled. These are self presentations of a totally different but equally if not more interesting nature. They make for great cultural integration tools. Watch them with some friends – preferably including an Eindhoven native – and try to figure out the stereotypes, the assumptions underlying the humour, the turns of phrase used in the original often local dialect. Succeeding would show that you have become a veritable local.

The 2019 Christmas film and the 2020 edition are also fun to watch.

And last but not least, enjoy this recently released music video by the triphop duo Blitskikker that is a tribute to their roots in Achtse Barrier. Obviously if you can make chocolate of their lyrics (as we Dutch say) you don’t need any cultural integration assistance anymore.