''Indonesia Calling'' is a 1946 Australian short documentary film directed by

Joris Ivens Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are ''A Tale of the Wind'', ''The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', '' Mi ...

and produced by the

Waterside Workers' Federation The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered ...

. The film depicts post-World War II

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

as trade union seamen and waterside workers refuse to service

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

ships (known as the "

Black Armada The Black Armada ( id, Armada Hitam) was a name applied to Dutch merchant and military vessels which were prevented from sailing to the newly proclaimed independent Indonesia from Australian ports due to waterfront strikes or 'black bans' by mari ...

") containing arms and ammunition destined for

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

to suppress the country's

independence movement Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. Ivens filming of the events taking place gradually became a symbol even for those who had not seen the film and had a growing following in the Netherlands, long before the film had an audience. Joris Ivens suffered persecution for his stance about the Dutch and Indonesia. Ivens had his Dutch passport seized by Dutch authorities for a few months at a time in order to monitor his whereabouts. In 1985, the Dutch government presented Ivens with a Golden Calf. At the ceremony, the Dutch minister gave a speech and in his words, "Shortly after the war, your support for Indonesia's right to

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...

and your film ''Indonesia Calling'' brought you into conflict with the Dutch government ��I can now say that history has come down more on your side than on the side of your adversaries."

References

* *Hans Schoots, ''Living Dangerously: A Biography of Joris Ivens'' (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2000)

External links

*
sensesofcinema.com
''From Colonial Film Commissioner to Political Pariah: Joris Ivens and the Making of Indonesia Calling'' by Drew Cottle and Angela Keys

* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Indonesia%20Calling%20Media%3A%22FILM%22;querytype=;rec=1;resCount=10 ''Indonesia Calling''] at National Film and Sound Archive
Ivens.nl 'Indonesia Calling', ''The Legacy of Joris Ivens''
* ttp://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/indonesia-calling ''Indonesia Calling''at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Indonesia Calling 1946 documentary films Black-and-white documentary films 1946 films Australian short documentary films 1946 short films Films directed by Joris Ivens Films about the Indonesian National Revolution 1940s short documentary films Films shot in Sydney Documentary films about Indonesia Australian black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s Australian films

See also

References

External links