OPERA JAWA

Setio and his wife Siti run a pottery workshop in a village on Java, where the butcher Ludiro controls trade. When the couple’s business collapses, Ludiro, who has long desired Siti, sees his chance: he abducts her and tries to win her over. The story is modelled on the abduction of Sita from the Ramayana, transposed into the present. Garin Nugroho tells “Opera Jawa” (Indonesia 2006) entirely through song and dance – in the form of the Javanese dance drama Wayang Orang, accompanied by gamelan and the sung narration of the Tembang.

Contemporary choreography and settings redesigned by installation artists are added to the traditional forms. The film was commissioned by Peter Sellars’ festival New Crowned Hope in Vienna for Mozart’s 250th birthday, as an Indonesian–Austrian co-production. It premiered in 2006 in Venice in the Orizzonti section. “Opera Jawa” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2007.

Shown at the 2007 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2007 · Film Archive