TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Reza Rahadian, Ika Natassa team up in COVID-19-inspired miniseries
Change Size
Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian poses during a promotional event in Jakarta on Feb. 18, 2018.
(AFP/Oeday Abdullah)
A
mid the COVID-19 pandemic, award-winning actor Reza Rahadian has directed and starred in the new romantic drama miniseries Sementara, Selamanya (Momentary, Forever), which is slated for release in early June.
Penned by author Ika Natassa, the series will also feature Laura Basuki, Christine Hakim and Ruth Marini in the main and supporting roles.
Presenting, the official poster of #SementaraSelamanya
A post shared by Sementara, Selamanya (@sementaraselamanya) on
According to a statement, the idea for the project began with Reza challenging Ika to write a story that could be filmed at home.
"Suddenly, the idea flows in my head; I put them into a scenario and gave it to Reza. He fell in love with it and we decided to turn it into a miniseries that has a story that is very relevant to the current situation," said Ika in the statement.
Sementara, Selamanya follows married couple Saka (Reza) and Zara (Laura) who decide to temporarily live separately because Zara works as a doctor handling COVID-19 patients. The situation forces them to communicate via video call, which later becomes a chronicle of their relationship journey. As they continue to spend time away from one another, an incident forces them to question whether they are better off together or not.
"This is a story of loneliness, empty spaces and unusual [situations]. A story that may represent the feelings of some people out there when they are forced to enter a new space with new habits; where distance takes them farther away from their loved ones. Reading the script makes me want to tell [the story] in a form of an audio visual work," said Reza.
The pandemic indeed poses as a challenge for filmmakers to stay creative, said producer Arya Ibrahim, who is also Reza's manager. "We try to continue to share stories by [implementing] innovations in film production, including the 'new normal' [policies] regarding health and safety aspects that have been used in offices and other industries," he added.
The miniseries will be available to view for free on streaming platform Vidio starting June 6.
Ika and Reza previously teamed up for the 2019 romantic drama feature film Twivortiare, which was based on one of the writer's novels and saw the actor play the leading role. (kes)
