Beginning as a easy two-hander wherein a younger working-class caretaker comes beneath the spell of his returning boss — a charismatic army man who has designs on stepping into native politics — Makbul Mubarak’s debut movie Autobiography quickly develops right into a tense psychological thriller about the best way populist leaders groom and abuse their folks. It works by itself phrases, as a easy but darkish father-son allegory set inside Indonesia’s army tradition, however there’s a universality right here that’s arduous to overlook.
Speaking at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season occasion, Mubarak described the inspiration for the movie.
“The inspiration comes from my family,” he stated. “My mom, my dad, my uncle, my grandfather, they all worked for the government during the military dictatorship. As you might know, Indonesia was a country which, for more than 30 years, was ruled by a military dictatorship. After the regime collapsed in 1998, I started to observe the changes. It inspired me to write about loyalty and the remnants of the dictatorship in our minds. What is the effect of dictatorship on the youth, even after the dictatorship has collapsed? So, it’s a film about loyalty and it’s also a film about legacy, I think.”
Since it bowed at Venice final yr, Autobiography has had a surprisingly lengthy life on the pageant circuit, putting a well timed chord within the run-up to Donald Trump’s bid for re-election subsequent yr. “People are seeing their own country in this movie,” nodded Mubarak. “Even in nations whose political programs I’m not acquainted with in any respect – like Morocco, for instance which is a monarchy — the viewers come and say, ‘Y’know I see my nation on this movie as properly,’ which is a really good shock.
“In Indonesia, people watch this film and for them it’s more than a reflection. For them it’s a horror film. It’s so real that it is horrifying for them. I think we’re living in a world where there’s so many versions of truth that politicians are always looking for the easiest way to [advance] themselves, which is by using the rhetoric of a strongman. I think that’s why the film speaks volumes to different people from different countries.”
Check again Monday for the panel video.
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