Scene from “Alleman”
Haanstra was born in the town of Holten and became a professional Dutch documentary film maker in 1947. He won international acclaims. He directed several fiction films. Fanfare, a comedy situated in a small Dutch village, is still the Netherlands' second most popular film ever (measured at the box office), only surpassed by Paul Verhoevens Turkish Delight.
In several shorts and in long documentaries like Alleman Haansta reflected on The Netherlands and its inhabitants. All these films made him one of the most popular filmmakers in the history of Dutch cinema. The documentary Alleman was seen in the cinema by 20 percent of the total Dutch population.