Usmar Ismail (20 March 1921 – 2 January 1971) was an Indonesian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, author, journalist and revolutionary of Minangkabau descent. He is widely regarded as the native Indonesian pioneer of the

cinema of Indonesia The cinema of Indonesia refers to films produced domestically in Indonesia. The statutory corporation, statutory Indonesian Film Board, or BPI, defines Indonesian films as "movies that are made by or using Indonesian resources whose Intellectua ...

Biography

Ismail was born in 1921 in Bukittinggi,

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

. His father, Datuk Tumenggung Ismail, taught at the medical school in

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

. His brother Abu Hanifah was also a well-known revolutionary and writer. Ismail attended ASM-A

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

and later obtained a B.A. in

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in 1952. Ismail initially served in the army during the Dutch colonial rule. He served in the Indonesian army in Yogyakarta. During this time, he was a co-founder of a newspaper called ''Rakyat,'' meaning "people" or "populace" in Bahasa Indonesia. He worked as the head of the

Indonesian Journalists Association The Indonesian Journalists Association (), here inafter known as PWI, is the first professional journalist organization in Indonesia. PWI was established on 9 February 1946 in Surakarta (this date was designated under the New Order in 1985 to bec ...

in 1946 and 1947. In 1948, he was arrested while working at national news agency Antara for covering Dutch-Indonesian negotiations. After his release, Ismail's interest in filmmaking developed more seriously. He became active in a number of film and theater groups, including the Yogyakarta Union of Playwrights, the Indonesian National Academy of Theater, and the National Film Industry Conference Body (Indonesian: B''adan Musyawarah Perfilman Nasional''). He is well-known as one of the founders of Indonesian National Film Corporation, together with Djamaluddin Malik and others involved in the film industry. Ismail was also active in politics. He served as the chief of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Artists (Indonesian: ''Lembaga Seniman Muslimin Indonesia,'' or ''Lesbumi).'' He was also involved with

Nahdatul Ulama Nahdlatul Ulama (, , NU) is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Its membership numbered over 40 million in 2023, making it the largest Islamic organization in the world. NU is also a charitable body funding schools and hospitals as well as or ...

and served in the

People's Consultative Assembly The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of a lower body, House of Representatives (DPR) and an upper body, Regional R ...

from 1966 to 1969. Following his dream of becoming a film director, he established "Perfini Studios", Indonesia's first film studios, in the early fifties. One of his early films, Darah dan Doa (English: ''Blood and Prayer)'', is considered the first truly Indonesian film. Many of Ismail's films faced criticism from the government and censorship. His 1962 film Anak Perawan di Sarang Penyamun (English: ''The Virgen in the Robber's Nest)'' was boycotted by the

Communist Party of Indonesia The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its Indo ...

(Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', or ''PKI''), as the film was judged take a position too supportive of Malaysia. It remained blacklisted by the New Order government after the 1965-66 Communist purges due to one of the leading actor's links to the PKI. He was perhaps best known internationally for his 1961 film '' Fighters for Freedom'', which documented Indonesian independence from the Dutch and French. The film was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival, making it the first Indonesian-directed film to appear in an international film festival. A concert hall known as the Usmar Ismail Hall, which gives musical,

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and theatrical performances, was established in his name in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. He died on 2 January 1971 of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in Jakarta. He is buried in TPU Karet Bivak in Jakarta.

Tributes

On 20 March 2018,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

celebrated his 97th birthday with a Google Doodle. Usmar Ismail became one of four individuals awarded by President

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

as a National Hero of Indonesia in Indonesia's Heroes Day of 2021.

Filmography

* ''Harta Karun'' (1949) * '' Tjitra'' (1949) * '' Darah dan Doa'' (1950) * '' Enam Djam di Djogdja'' (1951) * ''Dosa Tak Berampun'' (1951) * ''Kafedo'' (1953) * ''Krisis'' (1953) * '' Lewat Djam Malam'' (1954) * ''Lagi-Lagi Krisis'' (1955) * '' Tamu Agung'' (1955) * '' Tiga Dara'' (1956) * ''Sengketa'' (1957) * ''Delapan Pendjuru Angin'' (1957) * '' Asrama Dara'' (1958) * '' Pedjuang'' (1960) * ''Laruik Sandjo'' (1960) * ''Toha, Pahlawan Bandung Selatan'' (1961) * ''Korban Fitnah'' (1961) * ''Amor dan Humor'' (1961) * '' Anak Perawan di Sarang Penjamun'' (1962) * ''Bajangan di Waktu Fadjar'' (1962) * ''Masa Topan dan Badai'' (1963) * ''Anak-Anak Revolusi'' (1964) * ''Liburan Seniman'' (1965) * ''Ja Mualim'' (1968) * ''Big Village'' (1969) * ''Bali'' (1970) * ''Ananda'' (1970)

References

External links

* Indonesian film directors 1921 births 1971 deaths Minangkabau people UCLA Film School alumni {{film-editor-stub