Before, Now & Then
Film | Free
By Kamila Andini (Indonesia)
| Date & Time | 26 July 8pm In-Person Sharing and Q&A session with Kamila Andini (1 hour) |
| Duration | 103 minutes |
| Venue | Digital Penang Event Hall Indoor |
| Age Limit | Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a guardian. |
| Language | The film will be in Sundanese with English subtitles. |
| Content Warning | The film may contain content that could cause discomfort for some viewers. |
Description
Director: Kamila Andini
Country: Indonesia
2021, Feature Film, 103 minutes
Language: Sundanese with English subtitles
Age Suitability: Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a guardian.
Indonesia in the 1960s was a time of dramatic political change and turmoil, with Suharto’s coup ousting Sukarno and leading to a violent anti-communist purge. Nana, a gentle and beautiful young woman, seeks refuge in a second marriage after her husband is presumed dead and her father lost his life during the war in West Java.
She suffers in silence as the second wife to a rich Sudanese man, all while being haunted by her past in her dreams. Her memories are fragmented, incomplete, and she is not so certain about her husband’s death.
Nana befriends one of her second husband’s mistresses, and the friendship between these two women is the heart of this elegiac cinematic wonder. The bond they share becomes a crucial lifeline among the sea of adversities caused by men’s brutality, as they seek hope for independence.
Content Warning: The film may contain content that could cause discomfort for some viewers.
MEDIA QUOTES
“Andini and her collaborators, especially lead actor Happy Salma, offer a precisely calibrated, emotionally nuanced exploration of one woman going through a mid-life crisis in rural Indonesia during the 1960s that both looks and sounds stunning thanks to above-and-beyond craft contributions.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Before, Now & Then is a very carefully wrought arthouse film of the kind we used to see a good deal more in festivals, wreathed in poetic melancholy and never less than beautiful” – Deadline
Director
Kamila Andini
Kamila Andini is an award-winning Indonesian film director and scriptwriter working in various extended mediums: films, theatre, visual art, TV series and more. She debuted with The Mirror Never Lies in 2011, and released her second feature The Seen and Unseen in 2017. Her film Yuni won the grand prix at Toronto International Film Festival 2021. Last year she released Indonesia’s first Netflix series Cigarette Girl, following her passion and intention to create more modern and local female-driven stories for a global audience.
Moderator
Nadiah Hamzah
With her debut feature Motif, Nadiah Hamzah has been hailed as “one to watch” by The Hollywood Reporter. Her anti-bullying film for Save The Children exploded online and received awards at Adfest, The One Show, and Cannes Lion.
Nadiah Hamzah was born and raised in Penang, Malaysia. After a brief stint as a copywriter at McCann Erickson, she enrolled in film school and graduated with an MFA (Film & TV) from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, training under the tutelage of some of the biggest names in film, including Spike Lee.
She is currently developing her sophomore feature film, The Company You Keep, a psychological horror family drama set in the quaint town of Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan.
Teaser
Having lost her family to the war in West Java, Nana remarries and begins a new life. But the past lives on in her dreams.
Photos
