Anak Indië

The Netherlands has over two million people with roots in the former Dutch East Indies colony, over 300,000 of whom were forcibly repatriated to the Netherlands after World War II. For Dutch Indians, Moluccan families and Peranakan Chinese, it meant a new beginning in a country that did not always welcome them with open arms.

Through collage animations, music, 8mm archive footage and personal stories of well-known Dutch East Indies people such as Yvonne Keuls, Adriaan van Dis and Wieteke van Dort - the film shows how they had to build a new existence. Photographer Claude Vanheye shows his path to success, a road that was anything but paved, while illustrator Thé Tjong-Khing emphasises the feeling of being displaced: he feels neither Chinese nor Dutch. The archive images illustrate the feeling that many people with roots in the Dutch East Indies have: the feeling of being born between two cultures.

This is emphasised by the moving piano playing of composer/musician Mariëtte Hehakaya, who brings together the world of Moluccan culture and Dutch culture. Against this backdrop, Anak Indië recounts typical intangible heritage. From the Indian rice table to music, from visual culture to the Nijmegen Four-Day Walk - all deeply woven into Dutch society.