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Indonesian filmmakers shine at Locarno Film Festival
Recognition: Hiruk-Pikuk si Al-Kisah (The Science of Fictions) by Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen receives a special mention at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on Aug
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ecognition: Hiruk-Pikuk si Al-Kisah (The Science of Fictions) by Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen receives a special mention at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on Aug. 17.(Courtesy of KawanKawan Media, Angka Sinema, Limaenam Films)
Two Indonesian filmmakers have made their mark at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, a prestigious platform for arthouse films.
Yosep Anggi Noen’s The Science of Fictions received a special mention, while Makbul Mubarak secured a top prize to finance his debut feature, Autobiography.
The Science of Fictions made its world premiere at the festival and received special mentions alongside Maternal by Italian filmmaker Maura Delpero.
“The cinematic elements in The Science of Fictions pull the audience into an endless circle of historical accounts. Through its silent character, we are invited to retrace the fragments of Indonesian history in a fascinating way,” said French filmmaker and novelist Catherine Breillat, who headed the international jury.
The movie, which in Indonesian is titled Hiruk-Pikuk si Al-Kisah, follows Siman, who discovers a foreign film crew shooting a moon landing in Yogyakarta in the 1960s.
He gets caught and his tongue is cut off to prevent him from spilling the beans. From that point on, Siman goes through life in slow motion, as if he were an astronaut in space.
Through the movie, Anggi addresses several chapters of the nation’s history that remain sensitive and controversial till this day, and explores how technology infiltrates our personal life and the political landscape.
“It is not the main award of the festival, but it means so much for me and the rest of the cast and crew,” Anggi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Anggi said the award helped build anticipation for The Science of Fictions in Indonesia.
“For me, the best viewers for this movie is the Indonesian audience. The movie is about us […] a society seeking answers about the nation’s history.”
The film is produced by Angka Fortuna Sinema, KawanKawan Media and Limaenam Films, with coproducers from Indonesia (GoStudio and Focused Equipment), Malaysia (Astro Shaw) and France (Andofil).
It stars Gunawan Maryanto, Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, Lukman Sardi, Ecky Lamoh, Alex Suhendra, Marissa Anita, Rusini and Asmara Abigail.
The film was one of 16 films selected to compete in the festival’s International Competition category.
One of the producers, Yulia Evina Bhara, said the movie would be screened at several festivals in Europe and Asia in the near future. Anggi expects the film to hit Indonesian theaters later this year.
More good news for Indonesian cinephiles came with Makbul Mubarak winning the top prize of the festival’s Open Doors Hub coproduction platform, taking home 50,000 Swiss francs (US$51,000) in production support for his debut feature project Autobiography.
The movie centers on Rakib, a young housekeeper in an aristocratic mansion belonging to Purna, a retired military general who is running for the mayoral election. When one of Purna’s campaign billboards goes missing, Rakib roams the village to find the culprit.
The story is inspired by Makbul’s relationship with his father, who worked as a teacher at a state school during the New Order regime.
“At one point, I realized that my relationship with my father represents the relationship between the young and old generations, and between those who embrace the future and those dwell on the past. I see it as a portrait of Indonesia,” Makbul said in a telephone interview.
Autobiography is Makbul’s first feature project, after building a filmography of short films. He worked on the project alongside producer Yulia Evina Bhara since 2017.
With the Open Doors Hub prize, half of the planned 400,000 euro (US$443,204) budget for the project has been secured. Makbul aims to begin filming in June 2020.
This year, the Locarno International Film Festival awarded its top honor of the Golden Leopard to Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa for his latest feature Vitalina Varela. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Park Jung-bum picked up the special jury prize for Pa-Go (Height of the Wave).
