Requires a bottle of Imodium. David
On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 10:36 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > *Straits Times* / Singapore > June 30, 2010 Obama movie set for debut > > JAKARTA - A FILM about US President Barack Obama's childhood days in > Indonesia debuts in Jakarta on Wednesday, promising a very different > perspective on the man in the White House. > > The film, Obama Anak Menteng or Obama the Menteng Kid, is set in the > upscale Jakarta neighbourhood of Menteng where Mr Obama lived from 1967 to > 1971 with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. > > Co-director Damien Dematra said it would show the US president in a light > that Americans might find strange. 'Viewers, especially Westerners, will see > a different world. They'll see Obama eating chicken satay, not hamburgers. > They'll see his neighbours and friends wearing chequered sarongs and Muslim > caps,' he told AFP. > > Even so, producers skirted controversy surrounding the extent that Islam > influenced Mr Obama's early years in the world's most populous > Muslim-majority country. A scene showing Mr Obama, who is Christian, praying > like a Muslim was dropped as it was deemed 'too political,' Mr Dematra said. > 'He was just imitating other kids when they were praying but it didn't mean > he wanted to be Muslim. That scene wasn't even shot because I didn't want > people to take it out of context and use it against him,' he said. Based on > his interviews with Mr Obama's surviving neighbours and friends in the > Indonesian capital, Mr Dematra claims the film is '60 per cent fact and 40 > per cent fiction.' > > It features a cast of little-known Indonesian actors and was filmed in just > over a month in the West Java city of Bandung - which retains some of the > sleepy charm of 1960s Menteng. Its budget was US$1 million (S$1.4 million), > Mr Dematra said. Twelve-year-old American Hasan Faruq Ali plays Mr Obama, or > Barry as the president was known to his schoolmates. Like Mr Obama, Ali - > who had no prior acting experience - is the son of a mixed-race couple and > moved from the United States to Indonesia as a toddler. He speaks Indonesian > and English, just as Mr Obama switched between his mother-tongue with his > parents and Indonesian with his friends. > > Clips available on the Internet show 'little Barry' learning to box with > his stepfather after getting into a shoolyard fight, but ultimately learning > to resolve conflicts through means other than violence. Mr Dematra said he > did not want the film to be political, but to give viewers a sense of how > Indonesia's cultural diversity - mostly Muslim but with significant Hindu, > Christian and other minorities - might have influenced 'this pluralist and > inspiring figure.' -- AFP > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community < > [email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
