Djajakusuma was hired by the Ministry of Information in 1947 to teach at a school for the performance arts, the Mataram Entertainment Foundation (). Through Mataram, he and Ismail were introduced to filmmakers Andjar Asmara, Huyung, and Sutarto; the two studied under these more established individuals. Meanwhile, Djajakusuma was put in charge of censoring radio broadcasts in Republican-held areas, a duty he held until the Dutch captured Yogyakarta on 19 December 1948. Djajakusuma fled the city, then met up with Republican forces. Using an old radio and a bicycle-powered generator, Djajakusuma listened to international news broadcasts and wrote them down; the information from these broadcasts was then printed in underground newspapers.