Turang

After resisting the Dutch army, freedom fighter Rusli suffers serious injuries. Tipi and her father, the chief of the Dutch-occupied village, become responsible for Rusli’s safety and recovery. This neorealist film prominently features the contribution of ordinary people to the liberation struggle.

Leftist filmmaker Bachtiar Siagian’s long-lost film Turang is one of several post-independence Indonesian films depicting the independence struggle against the Dutch. Unlike other films that mostly centre on the military sphere, this film highlights the crucial role of ordinary people in liberation struggles. Set in an indigenous Karo community, the film depicts, in neorealist style, the people’s land, traditions, and unwavering determination for freedom.

Rusli, a people’s militia leader, was on a mission with a Karo man when Dutch troops confronted them. Severely injured and unable to continue the journey, Rusli’s comrades hide him in Seberaya village, located on Dutch territory. Tipi and her father, the village chief, are entrusted with his safety and recovery. From that risky circumstance, the film shows the ordinary lives of the villagers, their genuine solidarity with the freedom fighters, a blossoming romance between Tipi and Rusli, and the difficulties brought about by the raids of the Dutch army.

Turang is an important archive of the left regarding decolonisation. History has seen how third-world nationalist elites and military regimes have hijacked national independence, and Turang expresses a call to recognise and restore national sovereignty to its rightful owner: the people.

– Bunga Siagian

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