Indonesian female film director and producer Nia Dinata, who directed the highly acclaimed Arisan (Women’s Co-operative) and Berbagi Suami (Sharing A Husband), Nia Dinata recently released her latest movie.
Long Road to Heaven revolves around the fatal Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005 and its impact. Starring Surya Saputra as Hambali, one of the bombers and Alex Komang as one of the victim’s relations, the film has been receiving generally positive reviews since its release on January 27.
The Indonesian production, entitled Long Road to Heaven, includes actors playing the parts of the three Bali bombers, Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Mukhlas.
All of them are currently pursuing a last legal challenge to their death sentences.
Two Australian actors also star in the film as Indonesia Correspondent Geoff Thompson reports from Denpasar in Bali.
(excerpt from film in Indonesian)
GEOFF THOMPSON: This week the architects of the first Bali bombings will become stars of Indonesian cinema.
EXCERPT FROM MOVIE: People who do these terrible things, they cannot see beyond their own …
GEOFF THOMPSON: From the days of planning the attacks which killed 88 Australians through to the grisly aftermath, the actions and motivations and of the mastermind, Hambali, and three of the bombers now on death row, are dramatised.
Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron, or Mukhlas, are all played by actors in the new Indonesian film called The Long Road to Heaven.
NIA DINATA: The message is peace. Actually the message is peace.
GEOFF THOMPSON: Producer, Nia Dinata, denies that the film is exploiting the tragedy of the attacks.
NIA DINATA: As an Indonesian I really feel the sadness, you know, the tears, the questions. I can feel that question even in myself, you know, why? And also, I can feel their sadness. It's just natural for a filmmaker to have that kind of reaction. When they react to something, sometimes they make movie out of it, right?
EXCERPT FROM MOVIE: There is no shortcut to heaven.
GEOFF THOMPSON: The film challenges the jihadist concept of martyrdom by asking the question of whether there is a shortcut to heaven.
The terrorist characters in the film engage in a power struggle, arguing amongst themselves about the suitability of Bali as a target as well as how the attacks should proceed.
The character of Jemaah Islamiah's late master bomb maker, Dr Azahari Husin has a walk-on part, as does Indonesia's most wanted terrorist still at large, Noordin Mohammed Top.
But there is no appearance by, or any mention of, JI's one-time leader, Abu Bakar Bashir.
EXCERPT FROM MOVIE: She's my daughter I'll recognise it.
GEOFF THOMPSON: Against scenes of mayhem and charred bodies, the lives of the bombers are intercut with other characters' responses to the attacks.
They include a Balinese taxi driver and an American woman, played by the Australian actress Mirrah Foulkes, who travels to Bali seeking peace after losing a spouse to the September 11 attacks.
Australia's Raelee Hill portrays a journalist sent to cover the bombers' trial.
RAELEE HILL: I think it reads as a very gentle, very respectful, very bipartisan film. Australians are presented, represented as being both sinners and saints, which I think is correct, because we are. That's another thing that I really liked about the script. It wasn't a case of the Australians marching in to save the day, you know, all that.
GEOFF THOMPSON: If seen in Australia, the film will again focus attention on the attacks and their legacy, just as Amrozi, Samudra and Mukhlas await the outcome of a final appeal against their death sentences.
Rucina Ballinger lives in Bali running the Mother Earth Humanitarian Foundation, which led efforts in support of bombing survivors. She believes The Long Road to Heaven is an important film.
RUCINA BALLINGER: It's a cliché to say that we are all one, but that's a very important concept that we have to look at. Instead of trying everybody going their own individual ways, let's try and understand each other's religions.
GEOFF THOMPSON: The film opens on Thursday.
Support
Us 