Mouly Surya’s new war drama This City Is a Battlefield (Perang Kota) will screen as the final film at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which runs from January 30 to February 9. The film depicts Jakarta’s 1946 fight for independence by telling stories of people caught between personal lives and national struggle.
The story centers on Isa, played by Chicco Jerikho, a former war hero who teaches violin. He becomes involved in fighting Dutch colonial forces. His student Hazil (Jerome Kurnia), from a rich family, joins the mission and falls in love with Isa’s wife Fatimah (Ariel Tatum), who plays piano and works to keep her family safe during wartime.
Companies from eight countries made this film together: Indonesia’s Cinesurya and Starvision led the project, working with teams from Singapore, the Netherlands, France, Norway, the Philippines, and Cambodia. Willawati, Mona Surya, and Rieza Jusuf served as executive producers. Other production partners included Giraffe Pictures (Singapore), Volya Films (Netherlands), and Shasha & Co. Production (France).
Asian Shadows will sell the film worldwide. They worked with Mouly Surya before on her 2017 film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, which showed at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and won ten Citra Awards (Indonesian Oscars).
Many critics say Surya makes films unlike others in her genres. About working with Asian Shadows again, she said, “From our work together on Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, Asian Shadows know my artistic voice and how to share it widely.”
Maria A. Ruggieri from Asian Shadows said Surya creates new ways to show identity and freedom. “With wars happening now, she looks back to make sense of today, making war films in new ways,” Ruggieri said.
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Periscoop Film will show the movie in theaters across the Netherlands and Benelux. Surya directed part of Netflix’s action film Trigger Warning with Jessica Alba before making this film.
The movie tells Indonesia’s independence story through personal experiences. Its selection as IFFR’s final screening shows the festival’s support for varied international films.
