Anak Indië

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• Location: Filmhuis 

Anak Indië is a film about resilience, identity and a shared past-a past that is still palpable and visible in today's Netherlands.A compelling mix of fiction and documentary in which Lea, a young filmmaker, captures the energy transition in Amsterdam's harbor-and in the process dives deeper and deeper into her own memories.

The Netherlands is home to over two million people with roots in the former colony of the Dutch East Indies, more than 300,000 of whom were repatriated to the Netherlands out of necessity after World War II. For Indo-Dutch families, Moluccan households, and Peranakan Chinese, this marked a new beginning in a country that did not always welcome them with open arms.

Through collage animation, music, 8mm archival footage, and personal stories from prominent Indo-Dutch figures such as Yvonne Keuls, Adriaan van Dis, and Wieteke van Dort, the film shows how they had to rebuild their lives. Photographer Claude Vanheye shares his path to success—a road far from smooth—while illustrator Thé Tjong-Khing highlights the feeling of displacement: he feels neither Chinese nor Dutch. The archival images reflect the sense many people with roots in the Dutch East Indies share: the feeling of being born between two cultures.

This sentiment is underscored by the moving piano compositions of musician and composer Mariëtte Hehakaya, who bridges the worlds of Moluccan and Dutch culture. Against this backdrop, Anak Indië tells the story of a unique form of intangible heritage—from the Indo-Dutch rice table to music, from visual culture to the Nijmegen Four Days Marches—all deeply woven into Dutch society.

Anak Indië is a film about resilience, identity, and a shared past—a past that is still tangible and visible in the Netherlands today.

'Fits within the cultural catch-up of the past decade' – NRC (★★★★)

'Loving portrait' – de Volkskrant (★★★)

'Insightful documentary about Indo people, heritage, and identity' – Trouw (★★★)

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