CELLULOID COLONY: OCCLUDED HISTORIES OF THE NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES FROM MOVING IMAGES (1912-30)

Abstract

In 1912 the Dutch colonial government began producing propaganda films about the East Indies. Hundreds of films were made across the archipelago over the next two decades. The films, though championing a Dutch presence in Southeast Asia, chronicle life in colonial Indonesia and provide insight into a variety of its manifestations, including child labor, deforestation, coolie mistreatment and proselytization. Acknowledging a historiographic handicap in using film as primary source material, this thesis advocates a ‘pictorial turn’ in the study of colonial history. Based in archives and rare film clips that show hitherto under-observed aspects of the colonial encounter, combined with a cross-referencing with newspapers, books and articles from the early twentieth century, this study situates non-fiction film in the East Indies within the global context of that era.