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Epic bio of the founding fathers' teacher begins filming
Man with a mission: A scene in Garin Nugrohoâs Guru Bangsa: Tjokroaminoto (The Nationâs Teacher: Tjokroaminoto), a historical movie about HOS Tjokroaminoto, a 19th century nationalist trailblazer
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Man with a mission:: A scene in Garin Nugrohoâs Guru Bangsa: Tjokroaminoto (The Nationâs Teacher: Tjokroaminoto), a historical movie about HOS Tjokroaminoto, a 19th century nationalist trailblazer. (Pic(k)lock Production) (The Nationâs Teacher: Tjokroaminoto), a historical movie about HOS Tjokroaminoto, a 19th century nationalist trailblazer. (Pic(k)lock Production)
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span class="inline inline-center">Man with a mission: A scene in Garin Nugroho's Guru Bangsa: Tjokroaminoto (The Nation's Teacher: Tjokroaminoto), a historical movie about HOS Tjokroaminoto, a 19th century nationalist trailblazer. (Pic(k)lock Production)
The communist anthem 'The Internationale' reverberated recently in Jakarta when some 150 people proudly sang the song together inside a tony mall in the south of the city.
Was it a show of the rise of the banned ideology in the country? No. It turned out the song was part of the production of a historical movie, Guru Bangsa: Tjokroaminoto (The Nation's Teacher: Tjokroaminoto).
The award-winning Garin Nugroho is directing the movie, which tells the story of Tjokroaminoto, an important figure in the country's political history. The movie will be Garin's second epic after Soegija, released in 2012.
The name Tjokroaminoto might not resonate as loudly as Sukarno, Hatta, Sjahrir or Muhammad Yamin among the public when it comes to the country's history. But without Tjokroaminoto, there would have been no Sukarno as Indonesia's first president, who also later married Tjokroaminoto's daughter.
In a sense, Tjokroaminoto was the founding father of Indonesia's founding fathers.
Born in Madiun, East Java, on Aug. 16, 1882, Tjokroaminoto experienced, witnessed and took part in an episode of the country's history where revolutionary spirit was at its peak and numerous ideologies came pouring in and ignited a massive nationalistic movement among the youth for freedom from Dutch rule.
A young Tjokroaminoto moved to Surabaya, where he worked in a sugar refinery as well as becoming an assistant on the Bintang Soerabaja daily newspaper. Around 1915, Tjokroaminoto used his home as a boardinghouse that hosted several eager young men, such as Sukarno and other historical figures, Semaoen, Muso and Kartosuwiryo.
At the boardinghouse, Tjokroaminoto hosted a lot of discussions on politics, ideology and the nation along with his young and spirited tenants. Each of them began seeing Tjokroaminoto as a mentor.
Decades later, Tjokroaminoto's former tenants began developing their own political ideas and views and even became influential figures who gave birth to the country's independence in 1945.
Sukarno became a nationalist, while Semaoen and Muso became communists and Kartosuwiryo developed Islamic political ideas. It was ironic that after independence, these people ' who spent their early years befriending one another at Tjokroaminoto's boardinghouse ' ended up killing each other due to their ideological differences, with Sukarno left as the last man standing.
Garin said the movie would only cover a fraction of Tjokroaminoto's colorful life and would focus on him as a person living during revolutionary times.
'If we wanted to feature Tjo-kroaminoto and his students in their full glory, the movie would lose its focus. Therefore, the movie will feature his life until the 1920s,' Garin said.
History records that Tjokroaminoto's activism and praxis for Indonesia's revolutionary efforts took place between 1912 and 1929. In that period, Tjokroaminoto became one of the founders of Sarekat Dagang Islam (SDI), a trade organization for Muslim entrepreneurs that later evolved into a political movement known as the Sarekat Islam (SI).
Also in that period, Tjokroaminoto, as one of the leaders of the SI, witnessed growing factions within the SI between nationalists, communists and Islamists.
'It was the time when revolutionary movements were not only growing in Indonesia, but also in other parts of the world, such as Russia. It was the period when ideologies ' socialism, communism, fundamentalism and liberalism ' came into the country and influenced the thoughts of our founding fathers, who were mentored by Tjokroaminoto,' Garin said.
'So, this movie aims to pay homage to the origins of our political history.'
To properly depict a man as complex as Tjokroaminoto, who witnessed and experienced firsthand the revolutionary pre-independence Indonesia, a dream team of directors, actors and producers is essential for a successful movie.
Other than Garin, a director who has won countless awards at home and abroad for his work, the movie also features actor Reza Rahardian as Tjokroaminoto.
Reza rose to prominence following his role in Perempuan Berkalung Sorban (Woman with the Turban) in 2009. His feature movie debut was in 2004 and he received his first Citra Award in 2009 for best leading actor. Reza also received positive reviews and praise for his depiction of former Indonesian president BJ Habibie in Habibie dan Ainun (Habibie and Ainun) in 2012.
Puteri Indonesia beauty pageant 2011 finalist Putri Ayudya will play Tjokroaminoto's wife, Soeharsikin. The movie will be her first feature film.
The movie also features a direct descendant of Tjokroaminoto as one of the cast. Tjokroaminoto's great-great granddaughter, singer-producer Maia Estianty, will play the role of Soeharsikin's mother.
Prominent actress Christine Hakim will play the role of Mbok Tambeng, Tjokroaminoto's maid. Christine's most memorable performance was in Eros Djarot's 1988 film, Tjoet Nja' Dhien, in which she was cast as the infamous woman Acehnese guerilla leader of the same name. The movie won the Best International Film award during the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Christine, who is also one of the producers for Tjokroaminoto, promised that audiences would not be disappointed by the film, which is set to be released between March and April next year.
The filming locations will include historic cities, such as Semarang in Central Java and Yogyakarta, to re-create the vintage vibes of Indonesia during the 1920s.
Christine said the movie aimed to encourage the younger audiences of today to recognize the importance of Tjokroaminoto within Indonesia's history. 'This is a movie about his revolution through his thoughts and cultural approach. We need to know about this so that we all know where and how our independent nation began,' she said.
