“It’s not about politics, it’s just the story of a boy.”
The movie, produced by Multivision Plus, Indonesia’s largest production company, will premiere in Indonesia on June 17, the week of Obama’s anticipated visit to the country. The president postponed a planned visit in March to push through health care legislation.
The film tells the story of Obama’s childhood in Jakarta, where he lived with his mother and Indonesian stepfather from age 6 to 10.
“It’s about his friendships, his hobbies, just a childhood story,” said screenwriter and co-director Damien Dematra. “It’s not about politics, it’s just the story of a boy.” …
The movie set is a colonial-era house on the outskirts of Bandung, a city famed for its colonial architecture amid lush hilltops about 110 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Jakarta.
Directors John de Rantau and Dematra chose the city because it resembles Jakarta in the 1970s. Obama’s old home in the Jakarta neighborhood of Menteng is now surrounded by tall apartment blocks and is too urban.
The movie is taken from Dematra’s book “Obama Anak Menteng”–“Obama, the Menteng Kid”–a fictionalized biography based on interviews with about 30 old friends and neighbors. It is the first in a planned trilogy about Obama in Indonesia. The second book is to focus on his education at a Catholic school and the third on his relationship with his mother.
Dematra said he was a Hillary Rodham Clinton fan until he researched Obama.
“I just felt that this guy is an extraordinary person,” Dematra said. “The reason I’m doing this is I want people around the world to know that Obama can become who he is because of his background in Indonesia. The different religions and races, the pressures that he had. I want the film to inspire people.”
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