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Kartinah is a Lost film 1940 romance film from the Dutch East Indies that was written and directed by Andjar Asmara. The film, Andjar's directorial debut, follows a nurse and her superior as they fall in love in the Air Raid Preparation team. Produced by The Teng Chun's New Java Industrial Film, Kartinah was heavily subsidised by the country's government and through product placement. Although it was a critical failure, the new actors signed with the studio for Kartinah gave New Java Industrial Film increased production capabilities.
In an airstrike, Titi is heavily wounded; the presence of danger jolts her mind enough that she regains her sanity. She explains that she and Suria have long been sleeping in different beds, and expresses hope that Kartinah will be willing to take him as her husband. Kartinah and her childhood friend, Dr. Rasyid (Rasjid Manggis), try unsuccessfully to save Titi's life. Afterwards Kartinah agrees to marry Suria.
Andjar and his wife, Ratna, were each given 1,000 gulden for their work, Andjar as director and Ratna as an actress. The couple also received a 10 per cent share of the net profits. This fee, twice that earned by stars for other studios, was made possible by a subsidy from the LBD. Funds from the LBD and Department of Internal Affairs were also used in production, allowing for the filming of expensive effects and scenes, including one with a large fire and the first airstrike in the country's cinema. Despite this, the Indonesian sociologist A. Budi Susanto notes that the film put its love story first, leaving the role of the LBD in the background. Further funds were drawn from product placement: a Singer sewing machine and two local magazines.
Kartinah was originally meant to be titled Kartini. However, this proved controversial owing to the title's reminiscence of the female emancipation figure, Kartini. Filming began in early 1940 and received the attentions of numerous local groups, who visited the set. The film was in black-and-white.
The film is likely lost film. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all Indonesian films from before 1950 are lost. However, JB Kristanto's Katalog Film Indonesia ( Indonesian Film Catalogue) records several as having survived at Sinematek Indonesia's archives, and film historian Misbach Yusa Biran writes that several Japanese propaganda films have survived at the Netherlands Government Information Service.
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