Last month, the LA FILM FESTIVAL brought some great documentaries into town. Films capturing true life stories flavored from Cuba, China and across the world.
One in particular, has been a story in the making… It took 2 documentary features to get here. POSITION AMONG THE STARS is a gorgeous piece by previous Sundance winner (Grand Jury Prize 2005) Leonard Retel Helmrich.
This honest and entertaining ride is what I love about documentary film. Leonard, along with his Producer/Sister Hetty Naaijkens–Retel Helmrich and Editor/Nephew Jasper Naaijkens patiently crafted a story plucked from real life, and beautifully brought it to the the big screen.
For twelve years, filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich has followed an Indonesian family living in the slums of Jakarta. Just as in his previous two multiple award-winning documentaries THE EYE OF THE DAY (2001) and SHAPE OF THE MOON (2004), Retel continues to show us the underlying patterns of life in Indonesia with his revolutionary camera work, offering viewers a microcosm revealing the most important issues in the country’s fast-changing society: corruption, conflict between religions, gambling addiction, the generation gap, and the growing difference between poor and rich. Although the three films are obviously connected, each film is equally strong as a stand-alone feature. One does not have to have seen Retel's previous films to fully enjoy POSITION AMONG THE STARS.
At the start of POSITION AMONG THE STARS, grandmother Rumidjah, openly Christian, has left the bustle of Jakarta to live in the countryside. But when her adolescent, smart Tari granddaughter turns out to be too much for her son Bakti to handle, Bakti asks his mother to return to the city’s slums to provide the girl with a sense of values and purpose in life.
Tari is growing up in a time of increasing openness. The people around her are allowed, and even expected, to express their opinion about everything. Older people, accustomed to a more repressive society, are unfamiliar with democratic principles. Indonesia is experiencing the growing pains of a Western-style generation gap, a new phenomenon in the Muslim country.
The entire family sees in the intelligent Tari a chance to raise their status and escape the slums of Jakarta. Especially Bakti has high hopes for her since she is like a daughter to him. His job as neighborhood watchman doesn’t pay well, so he tries to earn some extra money by breeding fighting fish for gambling purposes.
This modest and simple family seems at ease with Leonard Retel Helmrich’s presence, who records their everyday real life situations with impressive detail, using his proprietary Single Shot Cinema method to bring moment of charm and compassion into their family tale.
POSITION AMONG THE STARS will be released in theaters by HBO Films. For more information, please visit http://www.facebook.com/positionamongthestars
To view the trailer, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIuPiIJOTs8
