The film, which was directed and written by Garin Nugroho, won eight of the prestigious Citra Awards, including Garin’s first win as a director at the festival, out of 12 nominations.

The film's nomination in the Best Picture category, along with 27 Steps of May, Dua Garis Biru (Two Blue Stripes) and Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), in itself was an unexpected move if not because the current festival committee and judges had stopped “playing it safe”.

The current committee, which was tasked with holding the festival from 2018 to 2020, had changed the format of selecting and judging to ensure the quality of the film selected at the festival.

The nomination task was handed to the different associations of film professionals, while the judges, or FFI members, were given the job of selecting the winner at the festival, which was first held in 1955.

“As in every aspect of life, as well as at all awards events, the main issue that has to be dealt with and carefully responded to is change. The digital revolution is the primary determining factor of the changes in the two pillars of filmmaking: technology and knowledge. It also changes the esthetics in films,” said committee chairman Lukman Sardi.

“The new paradigm certainly has affected our way of managing the festival and selecting the films,” he added.

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