Union Films was a film production company located in Batavia, Dutch East
Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). It was one of four new production
houses that sprang up during a revival of the colony's film industry
after the Great Depression. Established by ethnic Chinese businessmen
Ang Hock Liem and Tjoa Ma Tjoen, Union released its first film, Kedok
Ketawa, in July 1940. This was followed by a series of films penned by
Saeroen, beginning with Harta Berdarah and followed by Bajar dengan
Djiwa and Asmara Moerni, which attempted to distance themselves from the
theatrical conventions of the time, and were increasingly oriented
towards the Indies' growing intelligentsia. After Saeroen left for Star
Film in 1941, Union's final two productions, Soeara Berbisa and Mega
Mendoeng, emphasised realism. Following the Japanese occupation of the
Indies in March 1942, Union was dissolved, though its films continued to
be screened into the mid-1940s. Altogether, the company produced seven
black-and-white films; all may be lost. The company's films were
directed by four men, mostly ethnic Chinese, and launched the careers of
actors such as Rendra Karno and Djoewariah.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Films>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
565:
Justinian the Great deposed Eutychius, Patriarch of
Constantinople, after the latter refused the Byzantine Emperor's order
to adopt the tenets of the Aphthartodocetae, a sect of Monophysites.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutychius_of_Constantinople>
1689:
The Convention Parliament convened to justify the overthrow of
James II, the last Roman Catholic king of England, who had vacated the
throne when he fled to France in 1688.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_II_of_England>
1906:
The SS Valencia was wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island,
British Columbia, Canada, in a location so treacherous it was known as
the Graveyard of the Pacific.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Valencia>
1946:
Iran Crisis: The Republic of Mahabad declared its independence,
seeking autonomy for the Kurds within Iran.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Mahabad>
1973:
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its landmark decision in Roe
v. Wade, striking down laws restricting abortion during the first six to
seven months of pregnancy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
enthesis:
(anatomy) The point at which a tendon, ligament, or muscle inserts into
a bone.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enthesis>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
If I laugh at any mortal thing, 'Tis that I may not weep…
--Don Juan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron)>