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Introduction

Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar / 2017 / 86 min
Director：Kamila Andini

10-year-old Tantri is staring death in the face. Her twin brother Tantra has a brain disorder that confines him to a hospital bed, and she knows he will not live much longer. Every night, Tantri’s emotions are set free when Tantra appears before her as his old self, and the siblings dance in the moonlight... This fantastic vision was created by Kamila ANDINI, the daughter of prominent Indonesia filmmaker Garin NUGROHO, and inspired by a Balinese legend. A mythical world where reality and illusions mix is revealed within gorgeous visuals. Its music is supplied by sound designer MORINAGA Yasuhiro, who continues to collaborate with directors from Southeast Asia. Screened in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section.

Director's Statement

Sekala Niskala for Balinese is a life that always contains good things and bad things. Life is all about balance. In English it means ‘The Seen and Unseen', which also means that they live to believe of anything that you can see, but also everything that you cannot see. This term for me very much reflects myself as an Indonesian, and also as an Asian. We are holistic people who always live within two different poles; religion and culture, reality and myth.
Visually I want to play with the words the seen and unseen. By using a story of a twin sister and brother, this movie talks everything about dualism.
Tantri's twin brother, Tantra, is hospitalized for a heavy disease. That moment opens up something in Tantri's mind, revealing emotions that she never deals before. Her days become silent, and she starts to realize many things happen around her.This film is about dimension of life; this is about dimension of art itself. What is realism? Reality in my culture is surreal. By following a daily life of a girl whose brother is dying, we are following the holistic dimension of her feeling, a surrealism thatcomes within.

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