Indonesian Feminist Story of Two Women ‘Before, Now & Then’ Trailer

Indonesian Feminist Story of Two Women ‘Before, Now & Then’ Trailer

by Alex Billington
August 4, 2023
Source: YouTube

“Why is it that guilt always follows women?” Film Movement has unveiled their official US trailer for the acclaimed indie film from Indonesia titled Before, Now & Then, made by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini. This first premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Vancouver, Busan, and Philadelphia Film Fests. The story follows Raden Nana Suhani, as played by Happy Salma, a Sundanese woman in the 1960s, who lost a father & son to the war in West Java. She remarried as a second wife to a Sundanese man to start a new life with a man who was rich but always looked down on her. Nana suffers in silence… Until one day, she became friends with one of her husband’s mistresses and everything changes. Together, these two women seek hope for independence. Framed by elegant cinematography and a lush score, Before, Now & Then is a lyrical, transporting character study in the lineage of Wong Kar-wai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, that’s “wreathed in poetic melancholy and never less than beautiful.” The cast includes Laura Basuki, Arswendy Bening Swara, Ibnu Jamil. This looks really beautiful – see below.

Here’s the official US trailer (+ poster) for Kamila Andini’s Before, Now & Then, direct from YouTube:

Set amid the political violence of late-1960s Indonesia, Kamila Andini’s intoxicating film Before, Now & Then follows Nana, the beautiful wife of a wealthy plantation owner whose inner life remains with her deceased first husband, murdered in the civil war a decade prior. A survivor, Nana values her safety and material comforts, but carries out a haunted existence, dreaming of her lost love. Forced to confront her husband’s blatant infidelity, Nana makes an unusual connection with his younger mistress, Ino. The two women, sharing their secrets and desires, discover a newfound freedom and intimacy withheld from them both by the strictures of patriarchal society. Before, Now & Then, originally known as Nana, is directed by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini, of the films The Mirror Never Lies, The Seen & Unseen, Angel Sign, and Yuni previously. The screenplay is by Kamila Andini & Ahda Imran, adapted from Imran’s novel. Produced by Suma Adiwinata, Gita Fara, and Ifa Isfansyah. Film Movement will debut Andini’s Before, Now & Then in select US theaters starting August 25th, 2023 coming up. For more info, visit their official site.

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