Wim Umboh

Umboh was born in Wauilinei, Manado, North Sulawesi, Dutch East Indies, on 26 March 1933[1][2] to an ethnic Minahasan family.[3] He had 11 siblings.[2] When Umboh was seven, their mother died, and when his father died the following year[4] Umboh was adopted by a Chinese-Indonesian doctor named Liem. After being adopted, he received the Chinese name Liem Yan Yung and began learning Mandarin.[5] While working part-time as a shoemaker, he finished high school;[2] in high school he began writing scripts for stageplays.[4] In 1952 Umboh decided to go to Jakarta.[2][6]

Umboh was introduced to the film industry in 1953 by Boes Boestami, who secured him a job as a janitor at Golden Arrow Studios, owned by Chok Chin Hsin (also known as CC Hardy).[5][7] He later became a Mandarin-Indonesian translator for imported films[5] and studied filmmaking from Chok.[1] In the 1950s, he was a member of the Senen Artists' Group, a group which met at Senen in Jakarta.[8][9]

Umboh made his directorial debut with Dibalik Dinding (Behind the Walls) in 1955.[5] This was followed in 1956 by Terang Bulan Terang di Tengah Kali (Moonlight Shining in the Middle of the Stream), which also marked the first acting role of future director Sjumandjaja.[10] That same year, he married R.O. Unarsih, with whom he had had a daughter named Maria the following year;[5] the couple divorced in 1957.[6] Umboh founded Aries Film together with Any Mambo in 1960, and the studio released its first film, Istana Jang Hilang (The Missing Palace). Three years later, he directed his daughter in Bintang Ketjil (Small Star).[5]

Umboh's film Sembilan (Nine; 1967) was the first fully Indonesian film to be both in colour and CinemaScope; it was released at a time when the Indonesian film industry was incredulous of the profitability of colour films.[7] Umboh released Pengantin Remadja (Teenage Bride) in 1971, which went on to win the Asian Film Festival; the film cast Sophan Sophiaan and Widyawati in its starring roles and led to the pair taking romantic roles together several more times. Umboh's 1972 film Mama was the first local production shot in 70 mm film and stereo sound.[1] The film was also shot without a screenplay; instead, Sjumandjaja wrote the script while shooting was in progress.[11] In 1973 Umboh cast Sophan Sophiaan and Widyawati together again for his film Pernikahan (Wedding), which went on to win eight Citra Awards at the Indonesian Film Festival; the win was a record which held for 13 years, until Teguh Karya's Ibunda (Mother) took away nine Citras in 1986.[5] On 23 May 1974, he married actress Paula Roemokoy, a divorcée 17 years his junior, in a civil ceremony in Jakarta.[12][13]

Umboh fell ill around the time he was filming Pengemis dan Tukang Becak (The Beggar and the Pedicab Driver; 1978), which starred Christine Hakim and Alan Nuary.[2] According to Sophan Sophian, Umboh fell in the bathroom when the film was being shot in Surakarta, Central Java,[14] leaving Umboh was unconscious for eleven days.[6] The film was finished by Lukman Hakim Nain,[15] and Umboh was sent back to Jakarta[6] after several blood infusions in Surakarta.[16] He was treated at Husuda Hospital in Mangga Besar[14] and diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer.[16] At Husuda, he spent a week in the intensive care unit, during which time he lost 9 kilograms (20 lb), before being put in a regular room.[17] The hospital stay devastated him financially, which led to a 2-year struggle with the tax office over back taxes.[7] A heavy smoker, after his struggle with cancer he cut back on the habit.[6]

By August 1980 Umboh had recovered enough strength to direct his next film, Disini Cinta Pertama Kali Bersemi (Here Love Bloomed for the First Time), based on the novel by Mira W.[15] Shortly before directing Putri Seorang Jenderal (A General's Daughter; an adaptation of Motinggo Busye's novel of the same name) in 1981, Umboh divorced Roemokoy.[11][15] Umboh converted to Islam in 1983 and changed his name to Ahmad Salim. On 24 August of the following year Umboh married Inne Ermina Chomid, a police officer's daughter of Sundanese descent 28 years his junior.[6] As his health was improving, Umboh continued to make films, including Kabut Perkawinan (The Fog of Wedlock; 1984).[2] Umboh and Chomid had a son, William Umboh Ikhsan Salim, in 1986.[6]

After the Indonesian film industry crashed in 1992 Umboh directed two television serials: Pahlawan Tak Dikenal (Unknown Hero; 1994) and Apsari. The crash, along with his long illness, led his finances to destabilise, to the point where he lived in government housing.[11][18] In 1994 Suara Pembaharuan (now Suara Pembaruan), inaccurately reported him having died, a claim which Umboh publicly refuted.[8] Umboh died at 4:45 am WIB (UTC+7) on 24 January 1996 in Jakarta[1] of complications from diabetes and a stroke.[7] He was buried in Jeruk Purut Cemetery, South Jakarta.[6] Three weeks before his death, he was reportedly in good health and preparing to film a new serial entitled Gejolak Kampus Muda (Symptoms of a Youth Campus).[18]