Oscar-winning Dutch short film on 1950s glassblowers

Blending cool jazz and hot glass earned filmmaker Bert Haanstra the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary in 1959. It set the bar for short documentaries that work internationally.

The heart of the film is the juxtaposition of two ends of the glassmaking spectrum: artisanal and mass-produced. From distributor Aeon

The film contrasts the production of hand made crystal from the Royal Leerdam Glass Factory with automated bottle making machines in the Netherlands. An industrial film with a bebop heart, its lyrical use of light and sound still looks and sounds fabulous, nearly 60 years after it was made.

Glas (Vimeo / Aeon Video)