Out of Sight (1948)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: Indonesia

Djaoeh Dimata is a 1948 film from what is now Indonesia written and directed by Andjar Asmara for the South Pacific Film Corporation (SPFC). Starring Ratna Asmara and Ali Joego, it follows a woman who moves to Jakarta to find work after her husband is blinded in an accident. SPFC's first production, Djaoeh Dimata took two to three months to film and cost almost 130,000 gulden.

Production

SPFC hired Andjar Asmara, a former journalist and stagewriter who had been active with The Teng Chun's Java Industrial Film before the Japanese occupation, to direct Djaoeh Dimata; he based the screenplay on his stageplay of the same name. However, as with his pre-war ventures, the native Indonesian Andjar was more of an acting and dialogue coach; the Dutch cinematographer, A.A.

The film starred Ratna Asmara (wife of Andjar), Ali Yugo, Iskandar Sucarno, and Djauhari Effendi, all of whom had previous theatrical experience. Ratna and Ali, together with Andjar, had been members of the travelling troupe Dardanella in the early 1930s and entered the film industry together in 1940 with Kartinah.

Principal photography was conducted on sets constructed by artistic director Hajopan Bajo Angin in SFPC's studio in Jakarta. The company's equipment was of good quality, but conditions were detrimental to filming; a contemporary report notes that one take, done inside the studio, was ruined by the sound of a passing car. Filming, which took two to three months, was completed on 10 November 1948.

A documentary detailing one day of the production, called Er wordt een film gemaakt ("A film is being made") exists in the Netherlands.

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