Independence Day celebrations: 2-day Indonesian Film Week begins today in Abu Dhabi

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Indonesia is commemorating its 77th year of independence from The Netherlands on Aug.17 (Wednesday) and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Abu Dhabi is hosting the "Indonesian Film Week” this Saturday and Sunday as part of the celebrations.

Five films of different genres and storylines from an industry that began in 1926 had been selected for free public viewing at the Manarat Al Saadiyat in the Saadiyat Cultural District of the capital.

While it serves as the launch pad for the September 2022 UAE-wide showing of the two-and-a-half-hour horror "KKN di Desa Penari,” the event, whereby UAE residents and visitors are encouraged to register over http://bit.ly/ifw22abudhabi, shall also offer the 2012 restoration of the 1954-produced "Lewat Djam Malam” ("After the Curfew”).

To be screened on Saturday afternoon alongside the 2008 "Laskar Pelangi,” "Lewat Djam Malam” by the late Usmar Ismail and Asrul Sani, is about Iskandar, among the Indonesian Armed Forces personnel and freedom fighters against the Dutch colonisers, bitterly affected by the aftermath of the struggle for independence.

The setting of "Laskar Pelangi,” translated as "The Rainbow Troops,” is one of the richest islands in Indonesia. It captures the struggles of a group of children who build on their friendship while aiming for their respective dreams and at the same time save humanity.

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Directed by Awi Suryadi, "KKN di Desa Penari” is the 2022 movie version of a "viral horror story” that a group of students-Nur, Widya, Ayu, Bima, Anton and Wahyu-had gone through when they went to the Desa Pensari (Village of Dancer) for their internship programme. This was first released last April 30 across the Southeast Asian archipelago.

Family drama and what reading could do, is what the 2017 biography "Kartini” is all about. The main protagonist is a young lady by the name of Kartini, enabled by her brother Sosrokartono to establish a school in their own hometown. The courageous feat is for the betterment of women, condescended upon and marginalised by the society because of being unschooled. Among the unschooled is their own mother, "outcast in her own home for being not noble and just a maid.” Film director Hanung Bramantyo co-wrote the script with Bagus Bramanti.

"Uang Panai” means "dowry” in Bahasa Indonesia. It is also the 2016 film of Asril Sani and Halim Gani Safia who played around the second-chance love story of Anca of the Bugis-Makassar ethnic tribe and Risna.

"KKN di Desa Penari,” "Kartini,” and Uang Panai” shall be shown on Sunday afternoon.

Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis on Friday afternoon said: "Everyone is welcomed to join the Indonesian Film Weekend. A good movie could take us anywhere, even to the past, and give us the best experience as if we were part of it. Be it a classic, drama, comedy, or horror, you can see that Indonesian films can give you that.”

Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates were established in 1976 and the embassy in Abu Dhabi was inaugurated in October 1978 after the 1977 visit of former Indonesian President Suharto to the UAE. The UAE Embassy in Jakarta has been operational since June 1991 after the May 1990 Indonesia visit of His Highness the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding President of the UAE.