Busan entry The Sea Speaks His Name revisits Indonesia's 1990s student fight

Indonesia's 1990s student revolt is on the competition screen at Busan. The Sea Speaks His Name, directed by Yosep Anggi Noen, follows grassroots resistance to Suharto in the final years of his New Order rule, the three-decade presidency that ended in 1998, according to Variety.

It is his sixth feature. The film adapts the novel of the same English title by Leila S. Chudori, who also serves as a producer. The local title is Laut Bercerita.

Reza Rahadian stars as activist Laut. He reunites with Noen after leading the director's 2024 Netflix crime drama 24 Hours With Gaspar. Dian Sastrowardoyo plays campus firebrand Kinan, and Christine Hakim plays Laut's mother, according to Variety.

The festival route has been organised in stages. The project was shown as an unfinished cut in the Hong Kong Work-in-Progress lineup, a showcase where sales agents and programmers view films still in post-production, according to Variety. From Busan, it travels home for its Indonesian premiere as the closing film of Jakarta Film Week. It bookends that festival with Ah Girl, according to Variety.

Noen has worked this terrain before. His 2016 film Solo, Solitude, which premiered at Locarno, centred on protest poet Widji Thukul.

What makes this stand out for festival watchers is the chain. A best-selling novel, a returning lead actor, and two festivals in quick succession give a historical story a very public launch.