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Movie on missing poet to feature in Swiss festival
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Wiji Thukul, a poet and activist who has been missing since 1998, speaks at an event in this historical photograph. (tempo.co/Idon Heryatna)
A
movie on missing Indonesian poet Wiji Thukul will be screened for the first time at the 69th Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, to be held on Aug. 3-13.
The movie, titled Istirahatlah Kata-kata (Solo, Solitude) tells of the poet’s life when he was on the run following a riot on July 27, 1996. Wiji was declared missing in 1998. The Indonesian title of the movie is borrowed from one of Wiji’s poems, which was published in 1988.
The movie is the second full-length offering by Yogyakarta director Yosep Anggi Noen.
“Reading Wiji Thukul’s poems means reading a diary about a humble home, rice, unaffordable bread and stories from the neighbors. Wiji shows that poems can be made of daily life stories, not only flowery words. Wiji presented [the stories] inside straightforward and innocent poems that are very effective in recording the era, as well as criticizing the government at that time,” Yosep told tempo.co on Wednesday.
(Read also: Meet the man behind Indonesia’s first-ever Cannes prize)
The movie has been listed in the Concorso Cineasti del presente section of the competition. The Locarno International Film is a competition for first- or second-time filmmakers across the globe.
Yosep’s first movie, Vakansi yang Janggal dan Penyakit Lainnya (Peculiar Vacation and Other Illnesses), screened at the same competition in 2012.
“This movie is dedicated to Indonesian viewers, especially young generations. We will soon bring this movie home and try to have it screened in Indonesian cinemas,” producer Yulia Evina Bhara stated.
Yayasan Muara, KawanKawan Film, Partisipasi Indonesia and LimaEnam Films collaborated to create the movie. Among its cast members are Gunawan Maryanto, Marissa Anita, Melanie Subono, Eduwart Boang, Arswendy Nasution and Davi Yunan. (kes)
