Bernie IJdis

Road movie-style documentary about the Great Post Road (De Groote Postweg/Jalan Raya Pos). Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925), one of the most important Indonesian authors of recent decades, wrote an essay about the Great Post Road at the request of director Bernie IJdis. This thousand-kilometer road across Java was built at the beginning of the last century under the leadership of the Dutchman Daendels and cost the lives of thousands of Indonesian forced laborers. Because Toer, as a former political prisoner, is restricted in his freedom of movement, the filmmakers act as his eyes and ears during a trip along the Post Road. During the journey, parallels between Indonesia in the past and present slowly unfold. In addition, as the film progresses, the grimness of Toer's situation and the situation in his country becomes palpable.

A day from the life of Juan Carlos Godoy, singer. In drawn out shots, always from fixed camera angles, the aged entertainer is followed from the moment he prepares for a performance in a restaurant. The camera points towards the hallway, where we see ‘Juanca’ leaving the bathroom and carefully getting dressed. During the long drive to the city of his youth, only showing his face and part of the surroundings dashing past, the first words are spoken, after more than nine minutes. ‘You’re shooting a quite silent film, right?’ The old man sings, sometimes outside the fixed frame, his tango songs - shown in their entirety - makes a few sly remarks, and laboriously eats his uncooked ham sandwiches. The audience adores the tawny performer with his unwavering voice. ‘You are eternal, Juanca’, people praise him. Next Tuesday, he will be back.