Jan Teunissen
An image from Forty Years, one of the productions that also features Jan Teunissen.
Jan Teunissen

Jan Teunissen

April 15, 1898 — Den Haag

Gerardus Johannes 'Jan' Teunissen (1898 - 1975) was a Dutch film director. He made his debut as a director in the early 1930s with short avant-garde films Pierement (1931) and Sjabbos (1932). On request, he then directed the first official Dutch sound film: Willem van Oranje. When the film flopped, he gave up on being a director and worked as an editor on a number of Dutch feature films.

In the first years of the Second World War Teunissen joined Anton Mussert's National Socialist Movement (NSB) and became the head of the Filmgilde, producing a number of National Socialist propaganda films. Soon after this he became head of the Rijksfilmkeuring and was offered an honorary membership of the Dutch SS.

Because of his collaboration with the Germans, Teunissen was banned from the profession of film director after the war and received a prison sentence of several years.

Pygmalion

Pygmalion

1937

Tomorrow It Will Be Better

Tomorrow It Will Be Better

1939

The Ghost Train

The Ghost Train

1939

Somewhere in the Netherlands

Somewhere in the Netherlands

1940

Merijntje Gijzen's Boyhood

Merijntje Gijzen's Boyhood

1936

Een Dag Vol Spanning

1944

Pierement

1931

Forty Years

Forty Years

1938