Zoebaida

Zoebaida
Newspaper ad, Medan; an advertisement for Tarzan Finds a Son! is underneath
Directed by	Njoo Cheong Seng
Produced by	Tjan Hock Siong
Based on	Timoeriana by Njoo Cheong Seng
Starring	Fifi Young
Music by	Oriental Novelty Five
Cinematography	JJW Steffens
Production company	Oriental Film
Release date	1940 (1940) (Dutch East Indies)
Country	Dutch East Indies
Language	Indonesian

Zoebaida (Perfected Spelling: Zubaida) is a 1940 film from the Dutch East Indies directed by Njoo Cheong Seng. A romance set in Timor, it starred Njoo's wife Fifi Young and was the film debut of Soerip. Shot over a period of 27 days in a Dutch-owned studio, the film received middling reviews. It is likely lost.

A love story set in Timor, in which Zoebaida and her lover are forbidden from marrying by those in power. They can eventually unite as husband and wife.

Zoebaida was directed by Njoo Cheong Seng, formerly of the theatre; it was his second film, following Kris Mataram. The film's story was adapted from a stage play, also by Njoo, entitled Timoeriana. According to the Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran, the film was targeted at lower-class audiences. Biran also suggests that Njoo had been experimenting freely with the film, giving names on a whim and unrealistic, bright costumes. The film may have been made in response to The Teng Chun's Alang-Alang (Grass; 1939), which took remote locations and made them more exotic.

Zoebaida was produced by Tjan Hock Siong of the Oriental Film Company.Cinematography was handled by JJW Steffens, a Dutchman who worked for Dutch Indies Film Syndicate (Algemeen Nederlandsch Indisch Filmsyndicaat, or ANIF). Filming was completed over a period of 27 days in ANIF's studio complex in Batavia, which was rented at a rate of 1,500 gulden a month. For shooting, which was in black-and-white, Njoo and Tjan used empty land adjacent to the studio to build a village set. The film featured seven songs by the Hawaiian-influence group Oriental Novelty Five, with sound editing handled by KN Boen.