Indonesian director Mouly Surya's “What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love” will be the first Indonesian film to compete at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival next month in Park City, Utah.
“It is an honor to be able to represent Indonesia in a world class festival. This is a dream come true for me,” said director Surya, who finished her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Australia.
Surya's film was one of four films, directed by Asian filmmakers, selected for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and will compete with 11 other movies from Germany, South Korea, U.K., and Italy.
After the success of “The Raid: Redemption” earlier this year, Indonesian films have attracted more attention from the international film festival circuit.
In October, Riri Riza’s Atambua "39 Degrees Celsius" was selected for the Tokyo International Film Festival and just a few months before, another Indonesian movie titled "Postcards from the Zoo," screened at the Berlinale Film Festival as a Golden Bear nominee.
This year, Sundance received 12,146 film submissions with only 113 films selected to screen in the festival.
“What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love” is described as a complex story about love between two disabled characters: Fitri, a visually impaired girl, and Edo with his speech impairment. If only Fitri could see and Edo could talk, they would have been in love with each other since the beginning.
Meanwhile, Fitri’s schoolmate, Diana, is suffering from severe myopia. Anything outside 0.8-inch boundaries is a non-existent for her. What Diana longs for is to encounter her very first period, something simple that takes forever for her to experience. When Diana bumps into Andhika, a new student enrolled in the same school, her life starts to change.
“The idea of this movie came up to mind when I saw my visually impaired relative who was busy updating his Facebook status through his phone,” explained Mouly who enjoyed a convenient working environment with her soul mate, Rama Adhi as the director and producer of the same movie.
“What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love” is produced by Cinesurya Pictures and Amalina Pictures. It has been supported by some international organizations, such as Goteborg International Film Festival Fund from Sweden, Asian Project Market from Korea, and Hubert Bals Fund from The Netherlands.
What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance Film Festival 2013, Indonesian with English subtitles, 2012, 105 minutes, color, 5.1, Indonesia
Director: Mouly Surya
Screenwriter: Mouly Surya
Producers: Rama Adi, Fauzan Zidni, Tia Hasibuan
Associate Producer: John Badalu
Cinematographer: Yunus Pasolang
Editor: Kelvin Nugroho
Art Director: Rita Yossy
Composer: Zeke Khaseli
Principal Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer
Source: SmartCine / Sundance
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