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What did the life look like of Indonesian nannies working for Dutch families in the Dutch East Indies? The director created the character Alima on the basis of hundreds of archive images and many stories by babus.
Alima worked for a Dutch family as their babu – nanny - in the former Dutch East Indies. Her story, based on the experiences and memories of many Indonesian nannies, is set against the backdrop of World War II and the battle for independence. Alima flees from a forced marriage and starts working for a Dutch family. Informed by her new impressions and thoughts, she takes a critical approach to the colonial society and her personal position in it. The story is told in voice-over by Denise Aznam, under rarely-before-seen archive images.

Credits

Executive producer
Muziek
Voice-over

Title: Ze noemen me Baboe
Year: 2019
Duration : 1 hour, 20 minutes
Category: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2020

GeschiedenisPolitiekKristallen FilmGender & IdentityArchive footageEthnicityMaatschappij

Gouden Kalf winner

Beste Lange Documentaire (2020)
Sandra Beerends
Beste Montage (2020)
Ruben van der Hammen

Gouden Kalf nominees

Other awards

Kristallen Film (10.000 bezoekers documentaire) (2020)

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.