Target locked:  Bunga Citra Lestari plays Nurfitriyana in the film 3 Srikandi, slated to be released on Aug. 4.

Nurfitriyana Saiman was teary-eyed after learning that the story of the hard work of the three medal-winning archers who caused the Indonesian national flag to be raised at the Olympics for the first time in Seoul in 1988 would be made into a biopic.

The female archery team consisting of Nurfitriyana, Lilies Handayani and Kusuma Wardhani won a silver medal, the first medal for the country since taking part in the world’s summer sports competition since Helsinki in 1952.

“I haven’t seen the film, but I could imagine how hard it must have been for them. I saw the wounds on their arms resulting from practicing archery during the filming. I’m so proud of them,” said Nurfitriyana at the release of the film trailer on April 18.

She referred to Bunga Citra Lestari, Tara Basro and Chelsea Islan about their efforts to portray the trio of archers in 3 Srikandi, in which the actresses had to undergo intensive physical training with archer Patar Pandiangan, the son of the late Donald Pandiangan — nicknamed the Indonesian Robin Hood — the real coach of the national female team.

Helmed by Iman Brotoseno, the cast lineup also included Donny Damara, Mario Irwinsyah, Detri Warmanto, and Indra Birowo. According to Iman, a small part of the film was fiction, while the production crew had to reset the glorious moment because the original footage was difficult to find.

“I’m a history buff, so I promptly accepted the offer to direct the film. It will be a mix of sports film, drama and romance,” he said.

In the two-and-a-half-minute trailer, the actresses were shown facing difficulty after difficulty, starting from when they were at home to when they were at the training center, followed by their days in Seoul with Reza Rahadian as the hard-headed, tough coach.

“I’m amazed seeing the clip of the scene where they have to shoot the target board by standing on collapsed barrels,” said Kusuma, who also attended the press conference.

That was an actual part of their training regiment, she said, done for the archers “to maintain their balance”.

Bunga, who played Nurfitriyana, said that for more than three months — and longer for the other two who had been cast earlier — they had to endure long hours and difficult times practicing that included jogging on hills and running on sand to have the right posture of an athlete.

Teamwork:  Kusuma Wardhani (played by Tara Basro) (from left to right), Nurfitriyana (Bunga Citral Lestari) and Lilies Handayani (Chelsea Islan) appear in a scene in 3 Srikandi.

“We’re pretty good at archery now,” she said. “What we’ve learned from the film is sportsmanship and trusting your teammates. We became good friends because of the film and I think we would remain the same long after this.”

Chelsea, the youngest of the lot, said she was at about the same age as the three archers when they won the medal.

“They made history but no one my age knows about them anymore. I hope this film would be a reminder and a reason for our athletes to put Indonesia on the map again.”

Producer Raam Punjabi from Multivision Plus boasted the film production cost, with the settings located in Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, West Java’s Sukabumi and Seoul, was the highest so far compared to other big budget movies ever released.

The film, which was now in post-production stage, is to be released on Aug. 4 in conjunction with the Rio Olympics and in the same month as Indonesian Independence Day, as well as the anniversary of the passing of archery coach Donald Pandiangan.

Nurfitriyana would lead the national archer team as coach at the Olympics to be held from Aug. 5 to 21.

“Many things would be going on in August that could reawaken our fighting spirit and nationalism,” said Raam.

— Photos courtesy of Multivision Plus

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