The 2021 Busan International Film Festival is back. This time, the Busan International Film Festival again announced its selection, and four selected Indonesian films were included in it.
The three films will be screened at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which will be held in Busan, South Korea from October 6-15, 2021.
The three films are Like Revenge, Longing Must Be Paid Completely; Yuni; and short films The sea is calling me.
Like Revenge, Rindu Must be Paid Completely is a film adaptation of Eka Kurniawan’s novel directed by Edwin and previously won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival last August.
Yuni is directed by Kamila Andini, and the film has been selected to compete at the Toronto International Film Festival this September.
Like Revenge, Rindu Must be Paid Completely and Yuni was selected to enter the A Window on Asian Cinema program. Meanwhile, the short film Laut Calls Me is made by Tumpal Tampubolon, which was selected into
short film competition at BIFF in the Wide Angle program.
To the Sea Calling Me, BIFF will be a world premiere.
“I’m always looking for excuses to come back to the Busan International Film Festival which I consider my ‘home’. So, this year Yuni is very happy to be able to have the Asian Premiere in Busan,” said Ifa Isfansyahproducer of the film Yuni.
Producers Like Revenge, Longing Must Be Paid Completely have the same nostalgia,
“Busan will always hold a special place because our first film, The Blind Pig That Wants to Fly, 2008, director Edwin and I as producers, competed in the New Currents program, a competition program for the first and second films dedicated to new discovery directors. Asian youth,” said Meiske Taurisia.
A similar tone was conveyed by Mandy Marahiminproducer of the short film Laut Calls Me, “The Busan International Film Festival is a film festival that consistently supports Asian films, and we are proud to be selected to compete there.”
These three films together show the story of Indonesian people, although each tells the story with a different background (and time).
The Sea Calling me talks about the longing of a child, Yuni talks about dreams and boundaries that are
experienced by women in Indonesia, while Like Revenge, Rindu Must be Paid Completely tells about toxic masculinity and pop culture.
“Can I make a film that redefines the impact of popular culture while also criticizing the idea of toxic masculinity? I always question where is the place for sensitive humans in Indonesia, who glorify machismo and often use ‘violent language’ as their daily expression,” Edwin explained his motivation to direct this film.
For Kamila Andini, “Yuni was inspired by one of the famous poems by Sapardi Djoko Damono entitled ‘Rain in June’. Rain that falls in the wrong season. I built Yuni’s character as a teenager who was forced to grow up untimely. A teenager full of dreams, with today’s social media showing the world is at hand, but all he has to think about is facing a proposal and getting married. I hear so many stories about teenage girls who had potential and achievements but failed because of marriage, and I felt the need to talk about this issue.”
While for tumpal, “This film was born out of a sense of loss of the simple things that this pandemic has taken from us; handshakes, hugs, hugs, kisses. Through this film, I rethink the meaning of touch, how touch from people and other living beings has shaped, cared for, healed, and accompanied me. I learned that I am not alone,” he said of the inspiration from the Sea Calling Me.
This year, four Indonesian films will be screened in Busan. “There is nothing more fun than celebrating this with fellow filmmakers in Indonesia. The happiness itself is precisely in this time of crisis, many Indonesian films have achieved proud achievements,” said Ifa.
Apart from these three films, there are also films Light Copy creation Wregas Bhanuteja which was previously announced was selected to enter the Busan International Film Festival New Currents program.
Film Copying Cahaya became the third Indonesian film representative to qualify after Edwin (Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly) in 2008 and Kamila Andini (The Mirror Never Lies) in 2011 competing in the same program.
Like Revenge, Rindu Must be Paid Completely is expected to be shown in cinemas in Indonesia at the end of 2021, while Yuni is planned to be aired in 2022. (cinemags)
