Berita Film Indonesia
| Government-owned corporation | |
| Industry | Film |
| Fate | Merged with Regerings Film Bedrijf |
| Successor | Perusahaan Pilem Negara |
| Founded | Jakarta, Indonesia (6 October 1945) |
| Defunct | 1950 |
| Headquarters | Batavia, Dutch East Indies |
|
Area served
|
Indonesia |
|
Key people
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|
| Products | Newsreels and documentaries |
Berita Film Indonesia (abbreviated BFI; "Indonesian News Films") was the first government-owned film production company of Indonesia. BFI was formally established on 6 October 1945, after the Japanese occupation army surrendered, using the same equipment and studio as the Japanese studio Nippon Eigasha. The company, under RM Soetarto and Rd Ariffien, was soon forced to leave Jakarta for Surakarta and later Yogyakarta owing to the ongoing revolution against the former Dutch colonists. After the Netherlands recognised Indonesia's independence in December 1949, BFI was merged with the Dutch-owned Regerings Film Bedrijf.
The newsreels and documentaries produced by BFI covered numerous events in Indonesian history and have been reused for further works. In 1985 the company's history was dramaticised as Film dan Peristiwa (Film and Events) by Usman Effendy.
During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, the Japanese appropriated the ethnic Chinese-owned Multi Film to establish the film production company Nippon Eigasha in Jakarta, the colony's capital. This included all of Multi Film's equipment, with which Nippon Eigasha produced one featured film – Berdjoang (1943) – six short films, and several newsreels. All were of propagandic nature.
The day after President Sukarno proclaimed Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1945, a number of native Indonesian employees of Nippon Eigasha formed Berita Film Indonesia (BFI), taking an Evemo-brand camera and several rolls of film. The control of Nippon Eigasha was formally transferred to the Information Ministry of the Indonesian government, under Information Minister Amir Syarifuddin on 6 October 1945, preceding a Japanese withdrawal. The venture retained the name BFI and was headed by R. M. Soetarto and Rd Ariffien. Soetarto had been a deputy director of Nippon Eigasha during the occupation, while Ariffien had directed five feature films before and during the occupation, including Berdjoang.
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