The East is set in 1946 in the Dutch East Indies at the time of the Indonesian National Revolution. A young deployed soldier named Johan becomes enthralled with Army Captain Raymond Westerling, who leads counterinsurgency operations against the Indonesian guerrillas and purge operations on South Sulawesi. Gradually, Johan finds himself questioning the war more and more.
First footage of the film was released in May 2020, premiering at the Netherlands Film Festival on September 25, 2020. The film was originally scheduled for theatrical release on September 10, 2020, but due to delays incurred by COVID-19, the release was postponed until May 13, 2021, alongside a release on Amazon Prime Video.
Director Jim Taihuttu had been developing a film project about a “black page of Dutch history” since 2012. Producer Sander Verdonk joined the film in 2015 and from then on started looking for financiers.
In writing the screenplay, the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies were consulted for historical facts, and a conscious effort was made to find a co-production partner in Indonesia. Verdonk told us about the reasons behind this: “For us such a cooperation was very important. We didn’t want to settle down there like some kind of neo-colonist and make a little film. A large part of the crew was Indonesian.” The filming period started in February 2019 in Indonesia, ultimately filming for 48 days in Indonesia, with six additional filming days in the Netherlands.
The East (2021)
Directed by: Jim Taihuttu
Starring: Martijn Lakemeier, Marwan Kenzari, Jonas Smulders, Joes Brauers, Huub Smit, Jeroen Perceval, Peter Paul Muller, Jim Deddes, Reinout Scholten van Aschat, David Wristers, Abel van Gijlswijk
Screenplay by: Mustafa Duygulu, Jim Taihuttu
Production Design by: Lieke Scholman
Cinematography by: Lennart Verstegen
Film Editing by: Mieneke Kramer
Art Direction by: Iqbal Marjono
Music by: Gino Taihuttu
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Amazon Prime Video Splendid Film
Release Date: September 25, 2020 (Netherlands), August 13, 2021 (United States)
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