The Untold Story of Indonesian "Babus"

“Mama, I miss you so much. […] I miss your wise words, your songs, your stories. Your soft voice that lovingly calls my name: Alima.”

During the 1940s in Indonesia – at that time called the Dutch East Indies – Alima is still a teenager when she flees from an arranged marriage and makes her way to Bandung, West Java, where she quickly finds work as a nanny for a Dutch family with five children.

At first, it is hard for her to get accustomed to the lifestyle of the Dutch: Alima doesn’t understand why they have fixed times for everything and set their life according to a clock instead of the sun and finds it strange when the cook tells her that the Dutch like to eat cheese that stinks. But Alima loves the youngest son – and throughout her life refers to him as her first child – and slowly begins to feel like a part of the family, until World War II arrives in Southeast Asia and Indonesia is occupied by the Japanese.

It was common practice for the Dutch colonial rulers to employ local servants in their households: chauffeurs, cooks, maids and nannies. “They Call Me Babu”, a feature-length documentary by Dutch-Indonesian film producer Sandra Beerends, gives a voice to the countless Indonesian nannies who worked for Dutch families, taking care of their children as if they were their own, and have mostly been forgotten since. Beerends spoke to numerous nannies and some of the children – by now long grown up – they cared for, and combined their tales into one heartfelt story: the story of Alima.

Alima’s journey is told in her own words, as a heartfelt letter she writes to her own mother, in a moving voiceover by actress Denise Aznam. For the 2019 film, which is currently presented at DOK.fest Muenchen and was awarded with the VIKTOR DOK.horizonte price, Beerends sifted through hours and hours of film archives, searching for footage from the 1940s. At that time, she explained in an interview with DOK.fest, it was not unusual for families living in the Dutch East Indies to record home films – it was a perfect opportunity for them to allow their relatives back home in Holland a glimpse into their “exotic” life in the tropics.  

The “Babus”, the nannies, were often seen in these films, but never more than a shadow, lurking at the edge of the camera frame; seen only for a fleeting moment, carrying a child or following them through the garden to make sure they don’t stumble and fall. They often formed strong bonds with the children, but remain invisible, a blank spot in the history of the world. Commonly referred to as “babu”, they even lost their own names: “babu” is a made-up word by the Dutch, coined from “Mba” (young woman) and “Ibu” (mother).

Alima’s fictional story in combination with the original footage creates a powerful narrative against the backdrop of a turbulent time in history: through Alima’s eyes, we witness the terror and repercussions of World War II and the Japanese occupation, during which many Dutch families were imprisoned in camps, as well as Indonesia’s fight for Independence.

More than that, however, the audience also sees the transformation of Alima herself. At the beginning, she is still an insecure teenager, struggling to find a place in the world. But over the next decade, Alima becomes a determined young woman; she learns about the importance of education, gender equality and the right for freedom, she begins to question colonial society and her place in it. At the same time, she remains fiercely loyal to the child entrusted to her care – leaving her with a feeling of always being “in between”.

Accompanied by a beautiful score, courtesy of Alex Simu, “They Call Me Babu” is an impressive and heartfelt documentary that sheds light on a group of women who have always been overlooked simply because they didn’t hold any power.

“[…] I dreamed about a future, in which women could make their own choices and girls were allowed to go to school,” Alima says towards the end of the film, when she arrives in Jakarta and Indonesia has finally become independent. “A future that builds on our past, hidden in the colours of our flag.”