\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIndonesian auteur Kamila Andini is gearing up for what she calls \u201cthe hardest story I\u2019ve ever created\u201d with \u201cFour Seasons in Java,\u201d a magical realist drama that confronts the dark underbelly of progress and power in contemporary Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe film, now in post-production and at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, follows Pertiwi, a woman who returns to her village after more than a decade in prison for killing a young man while defending herself from attempted rape. Her homecoming coincides with the arrival of electricity to the remote community, setting up what Andini describes as a collision between modernity and personal trauma that she sees \u201crepeating in our daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDevelopment cost in our country is very expensive,\u201d Andini explains. \u201cWe pay it with our body, tears, blood and life. And yet, we are still very far behind. Most of the development doesn\u2019t give a future for the people, instead it only fulfills the political needs of people who are searching of power, and leaves nothing but trauma for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe project marks Andini\u2019s third collaboration with producer and life partner Ifa Isfansyah through their company Forka Films, following the international success of \u201cYuni\u201d (Platform Prize winner at Toronto 2021) and \u201cBefore, Now & Then\u201d (Silver Bear at Berlinale 2022). But this latest effort pushes the boundaries of their partnership in new directions.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cEvery time I work with Kamila, from one film to the next, I always want to challenge myself to achieve higher production value,\u201d says Isfansyah. \u201cI never did this kind of production as producer. It\u2019s set in a mountain, which was challenging for the production process, logistic and technic. Kamila wanted to explore nature and technology. Kamila and I had never done this before in a film.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe protagonist\u2019s name carries symbolic weight \u2014 Pertiwi literally means \u201cmother Earth\u201d in Indonesian. \u201cThis character is a metaphor of Indonesia,\u201d Andini reveals. \u201cIn Indonesia, we see land as the mother Earth, because in Java, \u2018mother\u2019 is the source of life. And this is where the relation of human and its nature begins in our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI keep seeing how our leaders selling and damaging our land without seeing it as our source of life,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n
\n\tPertiwi\u2019s journey home brings her face-to-face with the four men who sent her to prison \u2014 individuals who now dominate the village. Together with society\u2019s marginalized \u2014 the mentally ill, former prostitutes and people with disabilities \u2014 she discovers that the injustices of her past persist in new forms.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe narrative blends magical realism with local mythology and pointed social critique, a tonal complexity Andini hopes will illuminate \u201chow complex feminism in the global south is.\u201d The story draws power from abandoned objects and forgotten people, with used electronics that mysteriously light up serving as metaphors for resilience and renewal.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe film\u2019s themes carry urgent contemporary relevance. \u201cThe story based on many things that happens in contemporary Indonesia,\u201d Andini notes. \u201cBlackouts of electricity is still happening until now. Sexual harassment still happens and a lot of it done by people with power in the society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRecent headlines have only reinforced the story\u2019s necessity. \u201cAs I wrote my script, a news story came up about a girl [who endured a] series of sexual harassment by 11 people in power. And just yesterday, a girl was found raped and dead in palm plantation,\u201d Andini reveals. \u201cStories keep filling up even when I am creating the film. To be honest, it\u2019s not easy even for me to create this kind of story since it breaks my heart every time, but I think it really is the time to talk about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe production boasts a roster of international partners, including Netherlands Film Fund, Hubert Bals Fund, Sorf\u00f8nd and co-production companies spanning the Netherlands (Lemming Film), Norway (Storm Films), France (Ici et L\u00e0 Prods.), Germany (One Two Films) and Singapore (Giraffe Pictures).<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cEach partner and co-producer on this film has different values,\u201d Isfansyah explains. \u201cThroughout every stage, from development to production, post-production and promotion, I needed their perspectives. I ensured that everything was aligned. Of the many partners involved, I was certain of one thing from the start: trust in Kamila\u2019s vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe producer has strategically aligned with Indonesian partners to ensure broader domestic reach, including newcomer Imajinari with strong digital promotion capabilities and Miles Films, a company instrumental in the Indonesian film revival.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs the project participates in Venice\u2019s Gap Financing Market, the team seeks final funding for post-production, particularly visual effects, along with the right sales agent.<\/p>\n
\n\tFor Andini, the platform represents more than financial opportunity. \u201cMeeting people that believed in the story, and support on this voice to raised, is sort of a collective power that I am looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIsfansyah hopes the completed work will spark crucial conversations, particularly among those in positions of power. \u201cIn every region, there are those in power,\u201d he observes. \u201cThey often feel they are helping the weak in their own way, but that only makes the dominance increasingly imbalanced.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indonesian auteur Kamila Andini is gearing up for what she calls \u201cthe hardest story I\u2019ve ever created\u201d with \u201cFour Seasons in Java,\u201d a magical realist drama that confronts the dark underbelly of progress and power in contemporary Indonesia. The film, now in post-production and at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, follows Pertiwi, a woman who returns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[11148,11150,2447,11149,11147,306,7105],"class_list":{"0":"post-18301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-andinis","9":"tag-gapfinancing","10":"tag-heads","11":"tag-java","12":"tag-kamila","13":"tag-market","14":"tag-venice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}