People Next Door 2017 / Yang tidak dibicarakan ketika membicarakan cinta / Indonesia 2013
A delicate Indonesian film about love that introduces us to a group of blind kids; they may not have a clear vision of the future but that doesn’t mean they don’t dream – on the contrary. This poetic work captures moments we might otherwise tend to overlook, and it demonstrates that the loss of one sense doesn’t necessarily mean we forfeit a colourful view of the world.
Can a blind girl become an actress? And can you play in a punk band if you can’t hear? The inhabitants of a care home for the blind and visually impaired have their everyday concerns, but they also have time for themselves and for their dreams. Their relationships may bring out naive emotions and misunderstandings but there’s always something to learn – perhaps simply that beauty lies in humility. This tender film, whose protagonists are equally inquisitive and immature, doesn’t follow a dramatic line, nor does it promise a plot denouement. Instead it adopts a lyrical mode to guide the viewer through a special world that merits discovery for its intrinsic sensitivity alone. The director, entirely consistent in her approach to the film’s artistic stylization, thus arrives at a unique poetic form whose concept is clear, yet the depiction itself is agreeably ambiguous, even elusive. There is also an air of tranquility and reassurance, as if time were allowing us to indulge in a little luxury.
MFF KV
104 min / Color, DCP
Director Mouly Surya
/ Screenplay Mouly Surya
/ Dir. of Photography Yunus Pasolang
/ Music Zeke Khaseli
/ Editor Kelvin Nugroho
/ Art Director Rita Yossy
/ Producer Rama Adi, Fauzan Zidni, Tia Hasibuan, Ninin Musa
/ Production Cinesurya
/ Coproduction John Badalu
/ Cast Karina Salim, Ayushita Nugraha, Nicholas Saputra, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer
/ Sales m-appeal world sales UG
Mouly Surya (b. 1980, Jakarta) has been interested in film and culture since childhood. She took her first degree in media and literature (Swinburne University, Melbourne) and her master’s in film and television (Bond University, Queensland). Her debut Fiksi (2008) screened in its international premiere at the Busan IFF; at Jakarta it won Best Director. Surya is regarded as one of the most promising female directors in the region. Apart from her film work, she is also a teacher in Jakarta, where she lives. Her second feature What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love (2013) world premiered in competition at Sundance, screened at Rotterdam, and played Another View at the 48th KVIFF. Her latest film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017) was selected by the independent Directors’ Fortnight section at this year’s Cannes festival.
m-appeal world sales UG
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