The Teng Chun

The Teng Chun
The (center), c. 1940
Born	18 June 1902 Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died	25 February 1977(1977-02-25) (aged 74) Djakarta, Indonesia
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1930–1955
Notable work	Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang Alang-Alang

The Teng Chun (Chinese: 鄭丁春; pinyin: Zhèng Dīngchūn; 18 June 1902 – 25 February 1977), also known by his Indonesian name Tahyar Idris, was a Chinese Indonesian film producer. Born to a rich businessman, The became interested in film while still a youth. After a period as an exporter, in 1930 he established Cino Motion Picture to produce films in the Dutch East Indies. In a little over a decade he and his company had released at least 31 films, including some of the country's first talkies. Although he experienced a brief resurgence during the 1950s, after Indonesia became independent, he spent the last years of his life as an English teacher.

He was born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (modern day Jakarta, Indonesia) on 18 June 1902 to a rich businessman name The Kim Ie. As a child he studied at a Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan school.

The studied economics in the United States beginning in 1920. However, instead of following his father's footsteps The studied filmmaking at the Palmer Play Theater; one of his fellow film students was Fred Young, another peranakan Chinese from the Indies, who would collaborate with The. While in the US The worked towards convincing his father to become a film importer; the elder The initially refused, but eventually agreed to his son's proposal.

After five years of studies he went to Shanghai and became involved in the country's cinema industry, working on exporting films from China to the Indies and trying his hand at filmmaking. He returned to the Indies in 1930, after Shanghai-produced films became less popular. In the Indies, The – despite his father insisting that importing films was more profitable – established Cino Motion Pictures. The nation's cinema was still in its infancy; the first locally produced feature film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng, had been released in 1926, and there were only three other film production companies in the country.