Gina S. Noer’s directorial debut, Dua Garis Biru (Two Blue Stripes), has ignited the conversation on sex education, a topic that is largely avoid in Indonesia.

“I have never talked about sex in public this much in my life,” chuckled Gina S. Noer, a noted scriptwriter who has made her directorial debut in teenage drama, Dua Garis Biru (Two Blue Stripes).

In the last few months, Gina and the movie cast toured around Java to promote the movie, which centers on high schoolers Bima (Angga Yunanda) and Dara (Zara JKT48) who face confusion and consequences upon discovering Dara’s pregnancy.

The movie promo tour, unavoidably, prompted them to talk a lot about sex education — a topic that is often avoided by many parents in the country.

“We never really talked about this important issue,” said Gina, who also penned Dua Garis Biru.   

“We are in a country that when a woman is harassed, [people will say] ‘It’s your fault that you did not cover your body’. […] We never receive a proper sex education in which individuals learn to understand themselves and to respect others.”

Dua Garis Biru’s controversy started even before the movie reached theaters. Netizens — mostly adults — lambasted the movie’s trailer for having a “bad influence” on the youth.

Despite the early negative response, the movie — produced jointly by Starvision and Gina’s Wahana Kreator — soared to become the country’s second-biggest box office hit of the year, garnering over 2.5 million viewers.

Dua Garis Biru is a deeply personal project for Gina, a prolific scriptwriter behind many critically and commercially successful movies like Posesif (Possessive), Keluarga Cemara (Cemara’s Family) and Habibie & Ainun.

Spending her teenage years in Jakarta, Gina — like many of her generation — never discussed sex at home or school.

“That only just happened during my freshman year. My mother briefly said: ‘Don’t do things you shouldn’t do’.”

Things haven’t changed much for the generation of Bima, 19, and Zara, 15, who revealed in many interviews that their parents and teachers never gave “the talk”.

Speaking the unspoken: Hit teenage drama, Dua Garis Biru (Two Blue Stripes), brings to the fore a subject that most Indonesian parents avoid: sex education.(Courtesy of Starvision and Wahana Kreator)

 

Motherhood

It took a decade for Gina to bring Dua Garis Biru to the silver screen.

“I started writing the first draft in 2009 when my daughter was born. The project was put on hold as I became a mother of two,” said Gina, who founded Wahana Kreator with her husband — noted scriptwriter Salman Aristo, and Amelya Oktavia.

“When Pak Parwez [Chand Parwez Servia of Starvision] asked me to resume the project, I immersed myself in it because my daughter, now 11, soon will experience puberty and interact with people that may have different understandings about issues surrounding sex.” 

It took months for Gina and her team to find the main cast as many young actors declined the roles, fearing that being part of the movie will tarnish their image.

When they secured Angga and Zara as the main cast, Gina and the production team made sure to provide a safe and comfortable environment for the underage cast.

“I, coproducer Arief Ash Shiddiq — a former teacher with a degree in psychology, invited the two actors to discuss sex. Well, that was awkward but they needed to understand it to really immerse in the characters.”

When filming some sensitive scenes, Gina minimized the lighting, involved less crew and used two cameras to speed up the process. The main cast was also provided with a safe word.

“When they [Angga and Zara] said bakso [meatball], we would stop filming.”

When Dua Garis Biru hit the cinema on July 11, most of audiences comprised teenagers — perhaps simply propelled by their interest to see their idols, Angga and Zara. But as more watched the movie and posted their reviews on social media, it became clear to Gina that the younger generations were indeed longing for such a movie.

“ [Those from] Generation Z — who are about Angga and Zara’s age — are the ones who defended us on Instagram, saying that they need sex education because their parents never gave it to them.”

“But it was a different story when I opened Facebook. Parents scolded me as if I was the world’s biggest sinner,” Gina laughed.

The movie’s controversy remains with some social media users claiming that their teachers forbid them from watching Dua Garis Biru. On the other hand, many educational figures and organizations began throwing their support behind the movie, saying that it encouraged better communication in the family. 

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Celebrating tenderness

When asked about her willingness to direct more movies, Gina immediately said yes. She loves the fact that sitting in the director’s chair enables her to keep improving the story during the filming and editing process. 

And indeed, Indonesia needs more female directors like Gina. Her perspective as a woman is strongly felt in Dua Garis Biru — which portrays Dara in a thoughtful manner while also highlighting the bitter reality often faced by school girls who have unplanned pregnancies.

“There are several things that are influenced by my sensitivity as a woman, like where to position a camera, where to cut a scene and how intimate we are with the subjects.”

“We have to celebrate the tenderness that is considered fragile in this patriarchal world.

“For me, this film proves that with tenderness, we can speak about more things.”