Albert Balink | |
|---|---|
 Balink in the 1930s | |
| Born | 3 August 1906 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands |
| Died | 8 February 1976(1976-02-08) (aged 69) Pensacola, Florida, United States |
| Occupations | Journalist, filmmaker |
| Years active | 1920s–1950s |
| Notable work | |
Albert Balink (3 August 1906 – 8 February 1976) was aDutch journalist and filmmaker who contributed to earlyIndonesian cinema. Born in the Netherlands, he began a career infilm journalism in theDutch East Indies. A self-taught filmmaker, in the mid-1930s, he released a documentary and two feature films, before immigrating to the United States and resuming his journalistic career.
Balink was born in's-Hertogenbosch,Netherlands.[1][2][3] In the 1920s and early 1930s he was a reporter withDe Locomotief, a newspaper based inSemarang, Dutch East Indies,[4] and theSoematra Post, based inMedan.[5] He wrote extensively about film while working at these papers.[4]
In 1934, Balink established theJava Pacific Film production company with theWong brothers, headquartered in an oldBandoeng tapioca flour factory. Inexperienced with film, Balink had attained only theoretical knowledge gained from self-instruction.[6] The company's first production was a documentary film,De Merapi Dreigt (Mount Merapi Looms), released in 1934. Advertised as the first documentary filmwith sound in the Dutch East Indies, it was a critical success.[7] However, Balink's main interest lay in feature films, intending to reach an upper-class audience in contrast to the feature films ofThe Teng Chun, traditionally based onChinese mythology or martial arts, and targeted at lower-class audiences, generallyethnic Chinese.[8]
The studio, working with directorMannus Franken, then producedPareh (Rice; 1936), an ethnographic film considered a forerunner to theIndonesia Indah films.[9][10] Balink had brought Franken to the country to ensure the film's quality. As well as writing the screenplay, Franken co-directed and co-produced the film with Balink, who worked to secure funding from various sponsors and was in charge of casting, searching the country extensively for appropriate actors. Ultimately the film was a flop and bankrupted the company, including Balink, having cost 75,000gulden to produce. Despite this, it was well received in the Netherlands.[2][11][4]
Balink established renewed financial backing to found the Dutch Indies Film Syndicate (Algemeen Nederlandsch Indisch Filmsyndicaat, or ANIF), which produced its firstnewsreel on 22 December 1936, featuring theGambir Market, and festivities at the palace of theGovernor-General, including the inauguration of the last Dutch East Indies Governor-General,Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer.[7] In 1937, Balink directedTerang Boelan (Full Moon), described as the first full-length Indonesian film inMalay.[12] The story, following a young couple who have not received their parents' blessings, was written by the reporterSaeroen.[13]Terang Boelan proved to be the most commercially successful Indonesian production until the 1953 film,Krisis (Crisis), released after the country'sindependence.[14] Despite his success, the studio's backers disapproved of Balink's interest in feature films. He left the country for the United States, attempting a career as aHollywood director, which was unsuccessful.[15] Reviewing early Indonesian cinema, in 1991 the American visual anthropologistKarl G. Heider wrote thatPareh andTerang Boelan were the two most important cinematic works from the Dutch East Indies during the 1930s.[16]
In March 1938[17] Balink immigrated to the United States, became a citizen, and worked as a correspondent for Dutch daily newspaper,de Volkskrant.[18][19] The 1940 United States Census indicates that he was living inQueens, New York, with his wife, Lydia. From New Jersey and twelve years his junior, Lydia worked with Balink as his secretary.[20] In 1948, he published a socioeconomic study of theCaribbean,My Paradise is Hell.[21] In the 1950s he founded and edited a magazine,The Knickerbocker, a publication aimed at Dutch Americans. The magazine was instrumental in allowing Dutch baseball player,Han Urbanus to train with theNew York Giants. Urbanus used this experience to further develop baseball in the Netherlands. Also in the 1950s, Balink chaired the committee for the William the Silent Award for Journalism.[22][23][24] In early 1953 he served as executive of Holland Flood Relief Inc., which helped coordinate relief efforts during theNorth Sea flood of 1953.[25] Balink was an active amateur tennis player.[26]
Albert Balink died inPensacola, Florida, on 8 February 1976.[26]