When colonial powers returned to Southeast Asia after the Japanese interregnum, returning administrators, officers, and troops also came with camera operators. In this project, Retribution and Reconciliation, I examine the propaganda films produced by British, Dutch, and French journalists and newsreel directors in the late 1940s. A working hypothesis suggests that these films were likely shown to audiences in both the reoccupied colonies and in Europe to justify the continuation of colonial rule, even as violent intervention was necessary. As nationalist movements gathered momentum and independence became inevitable, the films shifted to projecting a more benign image to secure future diplomatic and trade links. I will be analyzing film footage from various sources, including the National Archives of Singapore, the Imperial War Museum, NHK, and the Dutch repositories EYE and Beeld en Geluid. The study also investigates associated sources such as “dope sheets” (camera logs) and newspaper articles. Some of this material has already been located and archived, including declassified SEAC (South East Asia Command) reports. Contextualizing historically significant, at times gruesome footage, the study hopes to provide a multifaceted understanding of the aftermath of the Japanese occupation, extending scholarly discourse beyond textual and testimonial sources. Given that the “re-setting” of the colonial image post-Japanese interregnum is the proximate subject of these films, having access to documents and institutional scholarship at CSEAS is immensely beneficial.