After The Eye of the Day (2002), director Retel Helmrich again follows an Indonesian family to portray this country, with 240 million inhabitants the largest Muslim nation in the world. The Sjamsuddin family lives in a suburb of Jakarta. The 62-year-old widow Rumidjah is thinking about returning to her native village, leaving her son Bakti and her 13-year-old granddaughter Tari behind. She clashes with her son on religious issues: he is converted to Islam; she refuses to part with her crucifix. This takes place against the background of anti-US demonstrations and an Islamic neighbourhood watch. n this way, Retel Helmrich continually mirrors this family with the community. The camera silently follows the people in what the director calls 'single-shot cinema'. The camera does not observe from a distance, but intuitively moves along with the action. It glides among people, scans faces, plunges into the chaos when a fire breaks out and flies high into the air when following a pedestrian who crosses a staggeringly high railway bridge.
Credits
Director
Producer
Camera
Sound Design
Muziek
Production company
Scarabeefilms
TV company
Human
Distributor NL
A-Film Distribution
Gouden Kalf nominees
Beste Lange Documentaire (2005)
Leonard Retel Helmrich
Beste Camera (2005)
Leonard Retel Helmrich
Other awards
Kristallen Film (10.000 bezoekers documentaire) (2005)
NFF Archive
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