Eye Film Museum

Eye opened in 2012 on the north bank of the IJ, directly opposite Centraal Station and reached by a free ferry that takes about two minutes, in a building by the Viennese practice Delugan Meissl - a white folded form with angled planes that reads differently from every approach and has a large glazed cafe terrace facing the water and the city. It holds the Dutch national film collection: around fifty thousand titles, including a very large silent-era holding, along with posters, equipment and stills. The basement exhibition space runs shows built around the collection, and there is a set of viewing pods where individual films from the archive can be called up and watched alone, which is the part people remember. Four cinemas screen classic, restored and current art-house work, often with live accompaniment for silents.

What you actually see

• A folded white building - Delugan Meissl's 2012 design on the north bank of the IJ.
• The national film collection - about fifty thousand titles, strong on the silent era.
• Viewing pods - archive films called up and watched individually.
• Four cinemas - restored and classic programming, silents with live music.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The ferry is free and constant, but the building is a walk from the landing. Exhibitions are ticketed separately from screenings. The cafe terrace is packed on sunny days. Screening programmes are mostly subtitled rather than dubbed.

Nearby

The NDSM wharf is further west along the north bank by ferry.