The Nederlands Filmmuseum’s collection of films made in the Dutch East-Indies is quite distinct from other, so-called colonial material. While many travelogues, industrials and other exotic views were made for commercial exhibition, i.e. entertainment, the vast majority of films of this colony was meant for more educational, scientific or propaganda purposes. Many of these films were sponsored by the Colonial Institute, as illustrations for the talks it organized. In a sense, then, this collection is limited, in that it predominantly contains nonfiction films that celebrate the blessings of Dutch technological and infratstructural improvements.

Nico de Klerk