Jakarta, IO – If you are a fan of documentary films, the story in the film Eksil will fulfill your expectation. Directed by Lola Amaria, it will have a limited screening in Indonesian cinemas starting February 1 at Plaza Senayan, Cinepolis Plaza Semanggi, FLIX Ashta District 8 and CGV Aeon Mall JGC.
This film tells about the fate of students who lost their Indonesian citizenship or were exiled after the September 30, 1965 abortive communist coup. Many of them were students who were sent to study overseas on scholarship by the government of President Soekarno, per Kompas, Thu (8/2).
However, they lives were upended after the ouster of President Soekarno. They are stuck in the limbo abroad and cannot return to Indonesia. Some went to China, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands, Czech-Slovakia, Germany and Sweden. They practically become exiles.
They were trapped in foreign countries for more than 30 years without the prospect of ever returning to the motherland. They became stateless, and try to survive by moving from one country to another.
Read: Getting To Know Jambi’s Nomadic Indigenous Tribe Suku Anak Dalam
Lola Amaria describes in her Instagram account that this is a life story built on trauma and the right to reclaim national identity, an attempt to define home through a collection of heartbreaking memories kept by a group of exiled intellectuals. Lola Amaria started working on the film in 2015 until its completion in 2022. This film won the Best Film category at the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2022 and the Best Long Documentary Film at the 2023 Indonesian Film Festival. (rr)