George Krugers

George Edward Albert Krugers (24 November 1890 – 10 August 1964) was a cameraman and film director active in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) during the early 20th century. Born in Banda Neira, he migrated to Java in the 1920s. Working with L. Heuveldorp in Bandung, he made his directorial debut in 1927 with Eulis Atjih. The following year, he established the Krugers Film Company. Under this banner, he joined the hajj in 1928 to produce Het Groote Mekka-Feest (The Great Mecca Feast), considered the first film about the pilgrimage.

In 1930, Krugers began producing sound films, with his Karnadi Anemer Bangkong (Karnadi the Frog Contractor, 1930) thought to have been the domestic sound film in the Indies. This film was a commercial failure, reportedly insulting the majority Sundanese audience. Krugers then began working for Tan's Film, with whom he made two films. Amidst the Great Depression, Krugers moved to Hong Kong, hoping to find work. This was unsuccessful, and Krugers spent the remainder of his life in the Netherlands. Most of his films are considered lost.

Krugers was born in Banda Neira, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) on 24 November 1890.^[1] The son of Johan Krugers, a Dutch-born schoolmaster, and Aline Burgemeestre, whose family had inhabited the Indies since the 1700s,^[2] Krugers was raised within the island's large Christian community.^[1] Little is recorded about Krugers's childhood, though he showed an early interest in technology. He is known to have studied architecture while also familiarizing himself with photography, film, and sound recording processes.^[3] Imported films had been introduced to the Indies in 1900,^[4] and from the 1910s short actualities were produced in the archipelago.^[3]

Krugers migrated to Surabaya in eastern Java, where he spent time as a water engineer.^[1] He moved to Bandung in western Java around 1925,^[1] where he married Elisabeth Schut, the daughter of a shipping dynasty.^[5] He also led the laboratory at N.V. Java Film.^[6] He may have been one of its founders, together with the Dutchman L. Heuveldorp.^[7] The company exclusively produced documentaries until 1926,^[6] when Heuveldorp directed the colony's first feature film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng. Krugers served as a cameraman for the film, which was based on a Sundanese folktale, also processing the film in his laboratory.^[8] Although the film was criticized for its technical quality, it received a private screening for Governor General Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff.^[9]

The following year, Krugers directed his own film,^[10] titled Eulis Atjih; he also served as scriptwriter and cinematographer.^[11] The film followed the beautiful Eulis Atjih as she falls into poverty after being left by her husband,^[12] and international screenings emphasised its ethnographic aspects.^[13] Produced with a limited budget and using amateur actors,^[11] the film was a commercial failure;^[13] Krugers told his backers that the film had recouped its expenses.^[14] Krugers work was complimented by the Dutch film pioneer Willy Mullens, which the historian Rukayyah Reichling cites as his motivation for leaving Java Film.^[3]

Krugers established his own company, Krugers Filmbedrijf (Krugers Film Company), in 1928.^[6] He was reportedly working on film adaptations of the folktales Roro Mendut and Prono Tjitro, although it is not known if he finished them.^[14] He did, however, complete a documentary entitled Het Groote Mekka-Feest (The Great Mecca Feast), which followed hajj pilgrims from the Indies during their trip to Mecca.^[15] Krugers performed the pilgrimage himself, likely receiving the support not only of the Islamic scholar Agus Salim but also the Dutch passenger lines that handled the hajj.^[16] After screening in the Indies,^[17] the film premiered in Leiden, the Netherlands, on 8 November 1928. This showing was attended by numerous Dutch socialites, including Princess Juliana, and given an introduction by the Dutch Orientalist Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje.^[15]

The first talkies shown in the Indies, Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and The Rainbow Man (both 1929), came from the United States and were screened in late 1929.^[18] This encouraged Krugers to make Karnadi Anemer Bangkong (Karnadi the Frog Contractor), an adaptation of the book by Yuhana, in 1930.^[13] The comedy, made with a single system camera that Krugers had obtained with the help of his Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers membership, is generally considered the first locally produced sound film released in the country,^[19] but had poor technical quality.^[20] It was a critical failure, as the majority Sundanese audience felt that they were being insulted; contemporary director Joshua Wong suggested that this poor reception was partly owing to the main character eating a frog, something which is forbidden for Muslims.^[13]

Following this failure, Krugers made the documentary Atma De Vischer (1931), which followed Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik on a trip through the Hague,^[13] before being signed to Tan's Film.^[21] With Tan's, Krugers made two films. First he directed and produced Huwen op Bevel (Forced to Marry; 1931), which was advertised as featuring songs and comedy. The film was a commercial failure, leading to all rights being acquired by Tan's.^[22] He was later tasked with cinematography on Bachtiar Effendi's 1932 talkie Njai Dasima,^[22] an adaptation of G. Francis' 1896 novel Tjerita Njai Dasima (Story of Njai Dasima).^[23] He is recorded as planning a further two films, De Nona (Of Ladies) and Raonah, but neither was made.^[13]

During 1934 and early 1935, all feature films released in the Dutch East Indies had been produced by The Teng Chun.^[24] This situation was created by the Great Depression, which had led to the Dutch East Indies government collecting higher taxes, advertisers asking for more money, and cinemas selling tickets at lower prices; this ensured that there was a very low profit margin for local films. During this period cinemas in the country mainly showed Hollywood productions.^[25] While withstanding these economic pressures, which had led him to declare bankruptcy on 12 October 1932,^[26] Krugers also faced criticism for the quality of his sound films,^[27] as well as a court case wherein he was charged with and acquitted of subverting the film censorship bureau by reinserting excised scenes.^[28]

In 1935, Krugers left the Indies with his family. He travelled to Hong Kong, where he entered negotiations to join a local film production company. However, his prospective business partner died during the dinner at which they were to sign the contract. Their finances failing, Krugers and his family quickly left for the Netherlands aboard a Nippon Yusen steamer,^[29] using the remainder of their savings to ensure passage.^[30] In the Netherlands, Krugers took up construction,^[31] but continued to experience financial difficulties,^[32] again declaring bankruptcy in 1945.^[31] He died in The Hague on 10 August 1964.^[6]

Most of Krugers's films are lost. Due to the rapid change in circumstances that resulted in his family leaving Hong Kong, the materials he had brought from the Indies were abandoned. However, Het Groote Mekka-Feest survived. Krugers had kept a copy of the film in Amsterdam, intending to gift it to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.^[33] In 1988,^[34] Elisabeth donated this copy to the EYE Film Institute.^[27] The Krugers family archive is held by the Leiden University Library.^[33]

Krugers was recorded in Indonesian history books as early as 1986. However, the information provided was inconsistent, with the film archivist Misbach Yusa Biran recording two distinct names and cataloguist J. B. Kristanto providing Hong Kong as Krugers's place of birth.^[35] In western academia, Krugers's work has been little studied. It gained increased prominence in 2015, following a screening of Het Groote Mekka-Feest at Leiden University;^[36] the film has been identified as the first cinematic documentation of the hajj.^[37]

• G. Krugers at IMDb