0In 2012 the Berlinale Generation presented the debut film of Indonesian director Kamila Andinis. Now six years later the filmmaker returns to Generation. In her new film "Sekala Niskala" she draws a colourful, sensitive picture of the life of her young Indonesian protagonists.
I still remember Kamila Andini's debut film "The mirrow never lies lies". Fascinating underwater shots, authentic actors and a calm, not too overloaded plot - that remained in my mind. This film gave an insight into the lives of young people growing up in a floating village. Exciting and like a documentary at the same time - Kamila Andini managed to keep up the suspense with small means, so that her young audience remained interested despite the film's calm. In fact, this film aroused my fascination for Indonesia and Asia and I decided that I need to visit a floating village at some point in my life. After my enthusiasm for "The mirrow never lies" my expectations for Kamila Andini's new film "Sekala Niskala" were correspondingly high.
In "Sekala Niskala" Tantra is seriously ill in hospital. His twin sister Tantri is afraid of hospitals, but she still comes to visit him often. With colourful costumes, games and music, the two try to dispel the sadness of the hospital room with colour and singing. And every night when the moon lightens the room, they can't sleep. It's as if the brothers and sisters had a special connection to the magic of the moon.
Like in her feature film Kamila Andini uses a quiet camera and many stills. Wonderful moon shots take the audience into the magical world of the two children. The sound of the Babus flutes and the recurring night scenes have an almost sleep-inducing effect. There is little spoken, but we often hear singing.But at some point in film the viewer will probably get confused, because the chronological order of the sequences are distracting . Daytime follows night scene, then again the hospital room, suddenly a village scene. It takes some time until I can get involved in the abstract confusion and let go of my expectation of a story that goes from A to B. Actually "Sekala Niskala" has no classical plot. Very little happens and what has happens has usally already happend in a similar way. There is a lack of a driving plot and I miss a development of the charakters.
Nevertheless the visual language is a true masterpiece. Children who walk over a field by moonlight, Tantri who dances to the moon in a long dress, the mother holding her son's feet in her hand and singing a lamentation song and the children who are playing. It feels like the whole movie is like a song. There is no story, it is more an attempt to describe the feelings of the protagonists. The attempt to capture this moment and capture it with pictures, dance and music. The moment between reality and dream, between life and death.
"Sekala Niskala" is a very special, abstract film. Very moving and enchanting in its own way, but in the Generation K+ programme from age 11 onwards, this film is unfortunately completely out of place. Because as a children's film it lacks exactly what "The mirror never lies" has. The tension it needs to keep a child attentive. Already for an adult it is difficult to understand the mixture of reality and dream world in “Sekala Niskala”, but for a child this is an almost unsolvable task.
Keine Kommentare