Cinema of the Netherlands

Cinema of the Netherlands
De Kroon film theatre in Zwolle
No. of screens	806 (2012)
• Per capita	5.2 per 100,000 (2011)
Main distributors	Warner Bros. 27.0% Universal Pictures International 16.6 Benelux Distributors (Bfd) 12.3%
Produced feature films (2011)
Fictional	55 (75.3%)
Animated	-
Documentary	18 (24.7%)
Number of admissions (2012)
Total	30,600,000
• Per capita	1.8 (2012)
National films	4,800,000 (15.8%)
Gross box office (2012)
Total	€244.6 million
National films	€35.9 million (14.7%)

Cinema of the Netherlands refers to the film industry based in Netherlands. Because the Dutch film industry is relatively small, and there is little or no international market for Dutch films, almost all films rely on state funding. This funding can be achieved through several sources, for instance through the Netherlands Film Fund or the public broadcast networks. In recent years the Dutch Government has established several tax shelters for private investments in Dutch films.

In 2000 the total revenue coming from box office results in the Netherlands was €128.5 million; Dutch films had a share of 5.5%, which is €7.1 million. In 2006 the total revenue was €155.9 million; Dutch films had a share of 11.5%, which is €17.4 million.

The Netherlands Film Festival and the Netherlands Film Fund are the initiators of four awards recognising box office achievements in the Netherlands. The awards are intended to generate positive publicity for a film when the media attention for the film's release has stopped. The Golden Film is awarded to films once they have sold 100,000 cinema tickets, the Platinum Film at 400,000 tickets, and the Diamond Film at 1,000,000 tickets. The Crystal Film is for documentary films from the Netherlands and is awarded once the film has sold 10,000 cinema tickets.

The most visited film in Dutch cinema history is Titanic, which attracted 3,405,708 visitors. Proportionately the most visited Dutch film is Turkish Delight which had 3,328,804 visitors in 1973, approximately a quarter of the entire population at the time. Titanic, by comparison, drew roughly one fifth of the population of the Netherlands in the late nineties.

The first Dutch film was the slapstick comedy Gestoorde hengelaar (1896) by M.H. Laddé.Willy Mullens was one of the influential pioneers of Dutch cinema in the early 1900s. His slapstick comedy film The Misadventure of a French Gentleman Without Pants at the Zandvoort Beach is the oldest surviving Dutch film.