Nana lost her husband and her father in the West Java War and narrowly escaped a forced marriage. Years later, after marrying a Sudanese businessman, she leads a comfortable life with three children and servants. It’s the late 1960s, after the anti-communist coup when Sukarno, the first president of newly independent Indonesia, is replaced by CIA-backed General Suharto.
Nana is looked down upon by her family. Her husband is unfaithful and traumas haunt her dreams. She suffers in silence until the day she meets Ino, her husband’s mistress. An unusual friendship develops and Nana’s emancipation begins.

Kamila Andini tells the story of the quietly elegant Nana from her protagonist’s perspective in three parts, while the political message remains a subtext: »Before« is the prologue to the traumatic experiences, »Now« her present, apparently perfect everyday life and »Then«, the utopia of liberation. An atmosphere of uncertainty hangs over the whole film; the camera passes elegiacally through rooms and over lavish décor, finding meaning in small objects or even in Nana’s knotted hair. The characters’ story is revealed as if on a stage. Andini subtly describes the various forms of oppression suffered by women in Indonesia and she makes it clear that a change of perspective and courage to break free can only be prompted by another woman.

Find here the Q&A with director Kamila Andini.