Jan Teunissen

Biography

Jan Teunissen debuted as a director in the early 1930s with the short avant-garde films Pierement (1931) and Vrijdagavond (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. In the 1930s, Teunissen worked as an editor on a number of Dutch feature films.

During the Second World War, Teunissen was the leader of the Filmgilde. He also made a number of National Socialist propaganda films. Because of his collaboration with the Germans, he was banned from the profession after the war, and received a prison sentence of several years.