cinemaachtige

Cinemaachtige is a Dutch term used in criticism to denote something that is cinema-like, or reminiscent of cinema, even when it is not a film. The word combines cinema with the Dutch suffix -achtige, meaning “like” or “in the manner of.” In practice, cinemaachtige is a descriptive label applied to media and artworks that evoke filmic qualities through their aesthetics, pacing, or narrative logic.

The term is predominantly used in Dutch-language discourse but also appears in international criticism when Dutch writers engage with film-adjacent art forms. It is not a fixed genre but a comparative descriptor. Critics employ cinemaachtige to signal that a work achieves a sense of movement, temporal progression, or visual storytelling that resembles the experience of watching a movie, even if the medium is literature, photography, painting, video art, or theatre.

Common characteristics attributed to cinemaachtige works include a strong emphasis on visual composition and lighting, a narrative or quasi-narrative structure organized through sequence or montage-like progression, and a rhythm or pacing that mirrors film editing. The approach may involve long takes, rapid cuts, or deliberate scene-to-scene transitions; it often foregrounds cinematic concepts such as mise-en-scène, framing, and tempo, while remaining outside traditional cinema.

Because cinemaachtige is a critique-oriented label, its use depends on context and interpretation. It can point to a deliberate borrowing from cinematic grammar to intensify storytelling, atmosphere, or emotional impact, or to works that parallel filmic thinking in their approach to space, time, and perception.