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Saeroen (EYD: Saerun; fl. 1920s–1962) was an Indonesian journalist and screenwriter. Born in Yogyakarta, he became a journalist after a time working at a railway station. By the mid-1930s he had established the daily Pemandangan with Oene Djunaedi and was writing editorials with the pen name Kampret. When the paper was dissolved, Saeroen drifted into the film industry as a writer, making his debut with Albert Balink's Terang Boelan (1937). Much of his later life was spent working with several minor publications.
Interested in the press, Saeroen left his job and became involved with several mainstream publications, including the Chinese-owned Siang Po and Keng Po. He later established the daily Pemandangan with Oene Djunaedi, writing heated editorials with the pen name Kampret (the Indonesian word for ). At the time editorials were mainstays of minor publications, and several reporters were better known by their pen names than their birth names. Although the newspaper's circulation grew quickly, Saeroen's editorials led to Pemandangan being closed by the Dutch colonial government in the mid-1930s. This reportedly followed a nationalist editorial in which Saeroen described Mohammad Husni Thamrin as prime minister of a "United Indonesian Republic".
After the success of Terang Boelan and Balink's emigration to the United States, much of the cast and crew – including Saeroen – were signed with Tan's Film. Saeroen's first film with the company, Fatima (1938), was a commercial success, earning 200,000 gulden on a 7,000 gulden budget. Around 1939 he was arrested for influencing the national media with Japanese funds, spending nine months in prison. During that year he also wrote Gagak Item ( Black Raven) for Tan's, a work inspired by Zorro.
Over the following two years Saeroen wrote four further films while continuing to write in Pemandangan, which had been reestablished. In 1940 he wrote two films for Union Film: Harta Berdarah ( Bloody Treasure), a story about an accursed treasure; and Bajar dengan Djiwa ( Pay with Your Soul), a drama following the interactions between several families, including the philanthropist Basuki and the ne'er-do-well Umar. A further film was completed for the company in 1941, Asmara Moerni. In 1942 Saeroen wrote two works for Star Film: Ajah Berdosa ( Father Sins), and Pah Wongso Tersangka.
Over the next several years Saeroen continued to work as a journalist while opening several hotels in Cipayung with bat-themed names, including Kampret, Kalong (Pteropus), and Kelelawar (Hipposideros); he is also reported to have helped raise the children of Titien Sumarni after the actress' death. Saeroen died in Bogor, West Java, on 6 October 1962.
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