Jan Teunissen

Biography

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...