A film by Makbul Mubarak, Drama, 115 min, Color
IDN/FR/SGP/PL/PH/DE/QA
Production: Kawan Kawan Media, In Vivo Films, Potocol, Cinematografica, NiKo Film, Staron Film
Funded by: Indonesia Agency for creative Economic, Ministry of Culture and Education Indonesia, Partisipasi Indonesia, Focused, FDCP Philipines Project Market Prize, Purin Pictures, Polish Film Institute, Singapore Film Commision SEA Fund, Région Nouvelle Aquitaine, CNC, World Cinema Fund
World sales: Alpha Violet
SYNOPSIS
With his father in prison and his brother abroad for work, young Rakib works as the lone housekeeper in an empty mansion belonging to Purna, a retired general whose family Rakib’s clan have served for centuries in a rural Indonesian town.
After Purna returns home to start his mayoral election campaign, Rakib bonds with the older man, who becomes a close mentor and father figure, and finds his calling as Purna’s assistant in work and life. When Purna’s election poster is found vandalised one day, Rakib doesn’t hesitate to track down the culprit, kicking off an escalating chain of violence.
CAST
Kevin Ardilova, Arswendy Bening Swara, Yusuf Mahardika, Lukman Sardi, Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, Rukman Rosadi, Haru Sandra
CREW
Producers | Yulia Evina Bhara, Louise Bellicaud, Claire Charles-Gervais, Jeremy Chua, Malgorzata Staron, Armi Rae Cacanindin, Nicole Gerhards, Amerta Kusuma, Robin Moran, Pinkan Veronique, Arya Sweta, Ganesya |
Written & Directed by | Makbul Mubarak |
DoP | Wojciech Staron |
Production Design | Sigit D. Pratama |
Editor | Carlo Francisco Manatad |
Composer | Bani Haykal |
Festivals & Awards
La Biennale di Venezia- Orizzonti World Premiere – FIPRESCI AWARD
Toronto International Film Festival – Contemporary World Cinema
BFI London – Journey
Busan International Film Festival – A Window on Asian Cinema
Filmfest Hamburg - Asia Express
Press
"Terrific... A genuine discovery... Mubarak’s rich, impressive film leaves a very strong aftertaste"
The Upcoming
"The film’s thematic and tonal sensibilities are underpinned by the strength of the two central performances. Bening Swara commands the space and authority of every scene, while Ardilova succinctly captures his character’s gradual loss of agency... The brooding tension of Autobiography simmers towards an ultimately understated, hauntingly subdued boiling point which is part coming-of-age
epiphany, part revolutionary reckoning "
Asian Movie Pulse
“Autobiography is a great debut for Mubarak, equally artful, well-shot, and contextually rich, and one of the best films we have seen this year so far"
Film Fest Report
"Kevin Ardilova shines bright in Makbul Mubarak’s striking Indonesian thriller debut... Makbul Mubarak's bold and striking debut is a riveting suspense thriller that highlights the fears and beliefs faced by many citizens around the world through the story of a dictatorship in a rural Indonesian town where a young man tasted power for the first time"