A rare glimpse of Indonesia’s capital. JAKARTA 1964, seen from a taxi window and a hotel room. The video shows a city in transformation, with bygone colonial era icons like De Harmonie and Hotel des Indes, but also the just opened head office of Bank Indonesia and Hotel Indonesia. With the sounds of 1964 and unique footage of Jalan Gajah Mada, Tanah Abang, Menteng and Salemba.
Very soon we will publish the book 250 YEARS IN OLD JAKARTA. It will tell the story of more than two centuries of Bik family in Jakarta, as well as the fascinating history of Tanah Abang, one of the oldest districts in Jakarta, dating back to 1628.
One entire chapter in the 336 page book will be dedicated to the Tanah Abang cemetery, now Taman Prasasti. It opened in 1797 and was fortunately saved from full destruction by the legendary Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin. In 1976 Bang Ali decided to transform 1/5th of the original cemetery into a park with the most memorable monuments and tombstones. In this video, author Sven Verbeek Wolthuys tells about the history of some of the Bik tombstones still present in today’s Jakarta.
The video was kindly created by the team of Adventure Documentary Festival (ADF).
