Feature Film · Drama · 2027 · In Development
In late-1990s Indonesia, three estranged Chinese-Indonesian siblings reunite when their father falls into a coma. Against a country in transition and the approach of the first openly celebrated Chinese New Year in decades, they must confront old wounds, private ambitions, and the family ties they can no longer avoid.
Writer & Director
Jason Iskandar
Producer
Florence Giovani
Current Progress
Financing
Language
Indonesian
Shooting Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
Estimated Running Times
100 minutes
This project has been presented at & supported by
Director’s Statement
I was born in 1991. When Chinese New Year was finally allowed to be celebrated publicly again around 1999 and 2000, I was still under ten years old. I remember that after 2000, my family began celebrating Chinese New Year again. What surprised me even more was seeing Chinese New Year decorations and lion dance performances everywhere.
At first, I thought it was simply something that had always existed. But as I grew older, many questions about my identity began to surface. One of them was about Chinese New Year. As I learned more, I discovered that my identity carried a long history intertwined with violence and repression. I came to understand that Chinese New Year had once been prohibited from being celebrated publicly as part of a broader policy of forced assimilation.
Since then, questions about my identity have continued to linger. Eventually, I decided to turn those questions into a story. One question in particular kept returning to me: what does Chinese New Year mean to me?
Of course, it is an annual celebration that brings my family together. But knowing the history behind it, I feel that its meaning is far more complex than that. Chinese New Year is not only a yearly celebration. At least for me as a Chinese Indonesian, it is also a symbol of awakening and reconnection.
With this film, my intention is to create a deeply accessible family drama about reconnection, identity, and the hope for a better future. I hope Chinese Indonesian audiences might see this film as an invitation to reflect on history and reconsider what their identity means to them. And for audiences who are not Chinese Indonesian, I hope the film can open space for conversation about history and, most importantly, empathy.