10 Facts About Mannus Franken

Mannus Franken was a Dutch filmmaker who played an important role in the development of Indonesian cinema.

Mannus Franken made his debut as a writer before working with Joris Ivens in producing two documentary films.

In 1949 Mannus Franken returned to the Netherlands, where he made another film before his death.

Mannus Franken was born on 2 February 1899 in Deventer, the Netherlands.

Mannus Franken helped with the cinematography and screenwriting and, for greater commercial viability, was given top billing.

The Indonesian historian Misbach Yusa Biran writes that Franken was not involved as Terang Boelan involved less ethnographic work, while the American film scholar Karl G Heider writes that Franken co-directed the film.

In 1938 Mannus Franken directed the semi-documentary film Tanah Sabrang, based on the writings of Adrian Jonkers and promoting emigration from Java to Sumatra.

Mannus Franken returned to the Netherlands in 1949, producing a film for the government.

On Mannus Franken's death, an obituary in De Telegraaf stated that he was a pioneering documentary filmmaker for the Netherlands and one of the country's few avant-garde creative professionals.

The film historian Peter Cowie writes that Mannus Franken was underrated and "a true pioneer and a very real pillar of the documentary achievement usually credited solely to Joris Ivens".