Upon its release last year, Dua Garis Biru became entangled in controversy with a petition circulated calling for its removal from theaters, as it touched on the subject of teen pregnancy.

The movie won four awards from 10 nominations at the Piala Maya online film awards on Saturday.

Besides being chosen as the Best Feature/Theatrical Film, Cut Mini also won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, while and writer and director Gina S. Noer won Best Original Screenplay and the Iqbal Rais Award for Best Newcomer in Directing.

“I thank the producers for their patience in waiting for the story to be completed after 10 years,” Gina said, referring to Chand Parwez Servia and Fiaz Servia from Starvision and Wahana Kreator. 

“I have never received accolades directly from the viewers before. It takes huge commitment from movie aficionados to review a film and to be consistent in showing their appreciation for filmmakers,” she added.

Gina said the conversation around the film would contribute to the film industry as a whole.

“The future is bright for our film industry when everyone is free to speak their minds. However, we should not stop at providing arguments, as it should continue to be a means for educating the public,” she said.

The Piala Maya awards were established in 2012 by Indonesian online movie aficionados through the Twitter account @FILM_Indonesia. The winners are chosen by a judging committee that comprises members of the group and film practitioners.

Complicated: Dua Garis Biru touches on the subject of teen pregnancy. (Courtesy of IMDb.com)

For its eight installment, the event adopted the theme “Semesta Delapan” (Universe Eight) and was held on Feb. 8. Awards were offered in 28 categories, with the nominees announced in early January.

The nominees were films that had been released in theaters from January to December 2019. 

Judging committee member Daniel Irawan, a Medan-based dermatologist, said that since their establishment, the Piala Maya awards had represented the views of movie enthusiasts.

“We’re not saying we should be different from Festival Film Indonesia because we also appreciate quality works, but we should not ignore how viewers judge a movie,” he said, referring to the festival that hands out the prestigious Piala Citra film award.

The festival named Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku (Memories of My Body) as Best Feature Film and its director Garin Nugroho as Best Director in December.

On Saturday, the Piala Maya award for Best Director also went to Garin for the film, while lead actor Muhammad Khan was named Best Newcomer Actor.

Miles Films’ Bebas (Free) — an adaption of a Korean film coproduced by CJ Entertainment, Ideosource Entertainment and Base Entertainment — brought home three awards for Best Supporting Actor (Baskara Mahendra), the Tuti Indra Malaon Award for Best Newcomer Actress (Maizura) and the Arifin C. Noer Award for Brief Yet Lasting Appearance (Dea Panendra). 

Indonesian superhero movie Gundala also won three awards for Best Score, Best Sound Editing and Best Child Actor (Muzakki Ramdhan).

Strong cast: Actors Lukman Sardi (right) and Raihaanun are named Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, for their roles as father and daughter in 27 Steps of May at the Piala Maya awards on Saturday. (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)

Psychological drama 27 Steps of May won Best Actor (Lukman Sardi) and Best Actress (Raihaanun), while the adaption of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s novel Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) won Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design.

New release Imperfect won Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Prakasa and Meira Anastasia) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Talia Subandrio), while Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini (One Day We’ll Talk About Today) brought home the award for Best Cinematography (Yadi Sugandi).

Riri Riza’s Humba Dreams, which was screened at a range of festivals, won the award for Best Independent Film, while the award for Best Short Film went to Lamun Sumelang by director Ludy Oji Prastama.

The Piala Maya award for Best Short Animation went to Nussa: Bundaku (My Mother) by Chrisnawan Martantio, while Minor by Vena Besta Klaudina and Takziyatun Nufius was named Best Short Documentary.

The Best Music Video award went to Isyana Sarasvati’s “Sikap Duniawi” (The Ways of the World) directed by Jordan Marzuki.

Saturday’s event was held in a familiar setting, with members of Indonesia’s film scene exchanging jokes and warmly applauding the winners.

“It is not a Piala Maya awards if it is not chaotic,” said Daniel, laughing. “Our concept from the beginning was to create a space for informal interactions between members of the film industry and their audience.”