Tauhid

Tauhid (1964)

A group of pilgrims travels to Mecca for the Hajj. During the journey, they encounter Halim, a doctor who has traveled to the Holy Land several times but never been moved to perform the pilgrimage.

Date of release
1964-01-01
Runtime
2h 0m
Genres
Drama
Director
Asrul Sani

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Indonesia

Tauhid is a 1966 Indonesian drama film directed by Asrul Sani. Starring M. E. Zainuddin, Ismed M. Noor, and Aedy Moward, it follows the spiritual journeys of an author and a doctor during their hajj pilgrimage. Produced with an announced budget of several million rupiah and supported by the Sukarno government, Tauhid was intended to document the hajj pilgrimage while simultaneously presenting a view of Islam that supported the regime's Nasakom ideology. The film, shot on location in Mecca with the support of the Saudi Arabian government, was a commercial failure upon release.

Production

The concept for Tauhid emerged within Lesbumi, a group of cultural actors associated with the Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama that actively promoted Islam as a basis for art. Djamaluddin Malik, an established filmmaker, proposed using the hajj as the basis for a film. This idea was embraced by two Lesbumi members, Asrul Sani and Misbach Yusa Biran, who each developed a screenplay based on the idea.

Both items gained the support of the Sukarno regime. In the 1960s, President Sukarno sought to consolidate his power and reaffirm his support from Indonesia's Muslim community. He thus directed several government ministries—the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Home Affairs—to support these films.

Production of Tauhid was initially scheduled for 1963. However, after a series of delays, production only began in 1964, with a budget announced to be several million rupiah. Regarding the film's approach to Islam, Sani wrote that he sought to present the film "in the form of a journal entry" rather than as a typical drama. Sani served as director, with Biran as assistant director.

Tauhid starred M. E. Zainuddin as Muhammad Amin, Ismed M. Noor as Mursyid, and Aedy Moward as Halim. It also featured Rd. Mochtar, Sukarsih, Mansjur Sjah, and Nurbani Yusuf. Sani had a small role in the film as the Indonesian migrant who inspires Halim. Scenes for Tauhid were shot on location in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended