Andre Roosevelt was an entrepreneur and filmmaker who tried to develop
the tourist industry in Bali in the 1920s in order to preserve the
native culture by turning the island into a national park. As part of
his aspirations, he wrote the screenplay for the 1932 film
"Goona-Goona, An Authentic Melodrama" (aka
Kriss (1931)) that, upon being released in
America in 1932, created a Bali craze.
Andre was the first cousin, once-removed, of US President
Theodore Roosevelt; his father
Cornelius was related to Teddy. After marrying a French actress,
Cornelius was living in Paris when Andre was born in 1879. He was first
involved with the movies in 1917, when he served as a production
manager on director
Wesley Ruggles's WWI
propaganda picture
For France (1917)
for Vitagraph Films.
"Goona Goona" was made with
Armand Denis, a Belgian documentary
filmmaker. The two began shooting footage of Bali on a trip there in
1928. The film combined documentary footage with a fictional romantic
story about the love between a native prince and a servant.