Solo, Solitude

  • 97'
  • Indonesia
  • 2016

When rioting breaks out in Jakarta in July 1996 and Wiji Thukul’s critical poems are chanted in the squares, the Suharto regime accuses the poet of being one of the ringleaders. Thukul is forced to flee his home in Solo, leaving his wife Sipon and their two children behind. He spends a total of eight months in the small village of Pontianak, living with strangers under assumed names, but always continuing to write. 
Thukul’s poetry, which is still immensely popular in Indonesia, plays a leading role in the film, the Indonesian title of which translates literally as 'a pause in the words'. Various poems are heard in the film, illustrating how simple words about everyday life can nevertheless express robust criticism of a dominant regime. In the meantime, director Yosep Anggi Noen (Peculiar Vacation and Other Illnesses, IFFR 2013) focuses with his lyrical images principally on the loneliness of Thukul’s life in Borneo.

Director
Yosep Anggi Noen
Country of production
Indonesia
Year
2016
Festival Edition
IFFR 2017
Length
97'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Istirahatlah kata-kata
Language
Indonesian
Producers
Yulia Evina Bhara, Yulia Evina Bhara (samengevoegd)
Production Company
Limaenam Films
Sales
Asian Shadows
Screenplay
Yosep Anggi Noen
Cinematography
Bayu Prihantoro Filemon
Editor
Andhy Pulung
Production Design
Deki Yudhanto
Sound Design
L. H Aim Adinegara
Music
Yennu Ariendra
Cast
Gunawan Maryanto, Marissa Anita, Melanie Subono, Eduwart Boang Manalu, Dhafi Yunan, Edwin Setiadi Raharja, Arif Setiawan
Website
http://www.chineseshadows.com/solo-solitude
Director
Yosep Anggi Noen
Country of production
Indonesia
Year
2016
Festival Edition
IFFR 2017
Length
97'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Istirahatlah kata-kata
Language
Indonesian
Producers
Yulia Evina Bhara, Yulia Evina Bhara (samengevoegd)
Production Company
Limaenam Films
Sales
Asian Shadows
Screenplay
Yosep Anggi Noen
Cinematography
Bayu Prihantoro Filemon
Editor
Andhy Pulung
Production Design
Deki Yudhanto
Sound Design
L. H Aim Adinegara
Music
Yennu Ariendra
Cast
Gunawan Maryanto, Marissa Anita, Melanie Subono, Eduwart Boang Manalu, Dhafi Yunan, Edwin Setiadi Raharja, Arif Setiawan
Website
http://www.chineseshadows.com/solo-solitude