At the time when cinematography first appeared in the Dutch East Indies, Chinese communities had already established themselves as a permanent and significant part of the local reality. Those communities were formed by incomers from various, but mainly southern, regions of China, and by their descendants born in the new homeland. For a long time, the Chinese had been coming to the islands of today's Indonesia as merchants, and since the 17th century, they had been migrating in larger numbers as mine and plantation workers. Many of them played the important role of trade middlemen connecting the local community and the European elites. This was partly the reason why they enjoyed special economic privileges and gradually gained access to more lucrative occupations. As a result, despite certain legal restrictions, immigrants from China formed a minority that was privileged in comparison to the indigenous population, arousing resentment on the part of the latter. Socially, they remained a largely isolated group.

In independent Indonesia, the presence of the Chinese minority was, from the very beginning, perceived to a greater or lesser extent as a problem. Today, successive generations of “immigrants” – born in Indonesia and partially assimilated – use local languages while still cultivating the traditions of their ancestors.