List of film directors of the Dutch East Indies

[4] The colony's first directors, L. Heuveldorp and George Krugers, were of European or mixed descent.

[5] They were followed by ethnic Chinese soon after, when Nelson Wong made his debut in 1928 with Lily van Java;[6] other Chinese directors included Lie Tek Swie (1929), Wong's brothers Joshua and Othniel (1930), and The Teng Chun (1931).

Some, like The Teng Chun, Fred Young, and the Wongs, had been interested in film since their youth.

[13][14] They were all men; the first woman to direct a film in the Indonesian archipelago, Ratna Asmara, made her debut after the Indies were dissolved.

[15] Between them, the 29 men directed some 103 films, at times working collaboratively; it was not unusual for them to take more than one role in production.

A man with short hair and a white shirt is controlling a large camera. He is facing left.
The Wong brothers (one pictured) were the first ethnic Chinese directors in the Indies.
A faded image of a man with short, curly hair in a suit and tie.
Bachtiar Effendi , the earliest recorded native Indonesian director
A man with short hair and a bowtie looks ahead.
Andjar Asmara , a journalist, became a director in 1940.
A halftoned image of a man with short hair and glasses looking ahead.
Usmar Ismail , who made his debut in 1949, would later be called the father of Indonesian film. [ 1 ]