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 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.