Andy Auric

The biography of the Indonesian women's emancipatist, R.A. Kartini, based on her letters.

Legendary directors Wim Umboh and Sjumandjaja, decided to experiment by producing a script being written at the same time of the shooting. Mama is a complex story with two seemingly unrelated narrative threads. The first story revolves around Sanca and Anani. The second is about Ulli and Pandji, and in between the two stories is a third narrative, about Ulla, a religious prostitute and Ulli’s sister, and Suwaka.

Ca Bau Kan relates the saga of Giok Lan, an Indonesian woman living in the Netherlands, who returns to Indonesia in search of her roots. Her mother, Tinung, a village woman, was known as ‘Ca Bau Kan’ – a word used to describe a courtesan who entertained Chinese men in colonial Indonesia. Giok Lan’s father, Tan Peng Liang (Ferry Salim), was an immigrant Chinese merchant who had a very successful tobacco business in Batavia. She becomes deeply involved with him, and causes a scandal when he has Tinung move in with his family. The film is set between 1930 and 1950, and unfolds the story of Giok Lan and her parents: Tinung and Tan Peng Liang where Tan is eventually ruined when his rivals begin to attack him. This is owing to the significant contrast in socio-economic and cultural background, as the love of these last two characters face a series of difficulties.