Ariani Darmawan Returns After a Decade With 'Jani Be Good'
Indonesian director Ariani Darmawan is back behind the camera after more than ten years away, with her first feature film, Jani Be Good, playing at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Variety reported on October 31 that she stopped making films to have a child and look after her family.
The film is set in a Chinese-Indonesian family and follows three generations of women. Its central character is 13-year-old Jani, who overhears a fight between her 18-year-old sister, Julia, and their mother, Winnie. Julia then leaves home. Winnie is a single mother who works as an accountant and takes on fruit hamper orders on the side. The household is Chinese-Catholic, and the grandmother, Oma, makes spring rolls to sell so she can save for her own cremation.
Darmawan also co-wrote the screenplay with Cyntha Hariadi. The four lead actors are Chempa Puteri, Sigi Wimala, Tutie Kirana and Hyori Mika. Variety describes the film as a portrait of four women across three generations, and says it explores silence and motherhood. The story unfolds over four days in December, in the lead-up to Christmas.
The project started with a phone call. Variety reported that the producer Taurisia called Darmawan in 2022 with an offer to direct a family drama. Taurisia went on to produce the film for Palari Films, the Jakarta company he runs with fellow producer Muhammad Zaidy. Palari was founded in 2016.
The film is in the Asian Future competition at the Tokyo festival, the 39th edition of the event. Its world premiere was announced in early October, and the film was listed for an October 27 screening in the festival's Asian Future section. Festival listings also named Darmawan, Puteri and Wimala as tentative guests for question-and-answer sessions.
Overseas sales are also moving. Screen Daily reported on October 29 that HKIFF Collection has boarded the film. In industry terms, a company that boards a project joins it to help bring it to buyers and audiences.
The next date on the calendar is at home. Palari Films is opening Jani Be Good in Indonesian cinemas on December 10, so the film moves from festival screens to local cinemas within weeks of its Tokyo appearance. Festival runs like this one are often where films first meet foreign buyers, and that is where the next stage of its life will be decided.
