Albert Balink

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Albert Balink (1906–1976) was a Dutch journalist and filmmaker who helped shape early Indonesian cinema. Born in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, he started as a film journalist in the Dutch East Indies, writing for De Locomotief and the Soematra Post. Self-taught in filmmaking, he founded Java Pacific Film in 1934 with the Wong brothers. Their first project was a sound documentary, De Merapi Dreigt (Mount Merapi Looms), which was well received.

Balink wanted to make feature films for a more upscale audience. With director Mannus Franken, he produced Pareh (Rice) in 1936, writing the screenplay and helping to direct and fund the project. The film was a critical success in the Netherlands but bankrupt the studio, costing about 75,000 gulden.

He then helped establish the Dutch Indies Film Syndicate (ANIF) and its first newsreel in 1936. In 1937 he directed Terang Boelan (Full Moon), regarded as the first full-length Indonesian film in Malay. Written by Saeroen, it became a commercial hit and remained popular until Krisis (Crisis) in 1953.

Balink left Indonesia for the United States to pursue Hollywood work, but it didn’t work out. He immigrated in 1938, became a citizen, and worked as a correspondent for de Volkskrant. In 1948 he published My Paradise is Hell, a socioeconomic study of the Caribbean. In the 1950s he started The Knickerbocker, a magazine for Dutch Americans, and supported Dutch cultural and relief efforts, including after the North Sea flood of 1953.

Albert Balink died in Pensacola, Florida, in 1976. He is remembered for his early contributions to Indonesian cinema and for helping build its initial film industry.