Set in Karo, North Sumatra, during the Indonesian War of Independence, Bachtiar Siagian's neorealist film follows wounded fighter Rusli nursed by village chief's daughter Tipi. Eschewing typical heroic narratives, it focuses on the lived experiences, landscapes, songs, and romance of local people during the revolution. Screened at the 1958 Asian-African Film Festival, the film was lost following Indonesia's 1965 anti-communist purges and Siagian's imprisonment. Rediscovered in Russia in 2023 by his daughter Bunga, this archival treasure offers a vital window into the complex history of decolonization.
Born in Binjai in 1923, Bachtiar Siagian was an Indonesian film director and member of Lekra, a leftist cultural organization (1950-1965). He was in charge of the 3rd Afro-Asia Film Festival in Jakarta. As a filmmaker, Siagian anchored his cinematic realism in the social realities of the third world. Most of his films were lost due to the anti-communist violence by the New Order authoritarian regime.
From Tokyo International Film Festival 2026, No. 39
