Gevangen op Java

Dramatised documentary about the life of the writer Willem Walraven (1887-1943). After roaming the USA for several years, Walraven left at the turn of the century for the Dutch East Indies. In 1941 he was labelled an enemy of the state by the Dutch authorities and imprisoned in a Javan jail. Prisoner on Java shows how Walraven, played by Gerard Thoolen, looks back in his cell on his life and the events leading up to his imprisonment. Alongside dramatised scenes and archive footage, the film shows footage of two men, including human-rights activist Poncke Princen, who trek through Java in Walraven's footsteps in Java today. The picture gradually emerges of a controversial writer whose life and work forms a coherent whole.