The Seen and Unseen
Sekala Niskala
Directed by
Indonesia, Netherlands, Australia, Qatar
2017
86 min
- Indonesian
Drama
Tantra and Tantri are inseparable. When they secretly steal eggs from the family’s sacrificial offering, Tantri always gets the whites and Tantra the yolks. One day, however, the yolk is missing, as is Tantra. Her brother gravely ill and in hospital, Tantri starts slipping into magical parallel worlds, approaching the inevitable farewell through costumes, body paint and dance. When at one point Tantri’s mother washes the paint from her face, it is as if tenderly to expel the illusion that things can remain as they are. In long dream sequences and against the background of the Balinese philosophy of sekala – the seen – and niskala – the unseen – Andini relates how one ten-year-old girl deals with parting and grief.
Awards
- Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury - Berlinale Generation
- Critics' Choice Award - Fribourg IFF
- International Feature Fiction Award - Adelaide FF
Festivals
Labels & Line Ups
Credits
- Cast
- Ni Kadek Thaly Titi Kasih
- Ida Bagus Putu Radithya Mahijasena
- Ayu Laksmi
- I Ketut Rina
- Happy Salma
- Gusti Ayu Raka
- Screenplay
- Kamila Andini
- Cinematography
- Anggi Frisca
- Editing
- Dinda Amanda
- Dwi Agus
- Music
- Yasuhiro Morinaga
- Sales
- CERCAMON
- Production
- TREEWATER PRODUCTIONS
Press
Kamila Andini
Indonesia
Filmmaking for me is all about relations and interrelations, its about changing perspective, its about the journey to the east.
Kamila Andini is a mother and filmmaker based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her interest in social culture, gender equality and environmental issues is what drives her passion to make films with a distinctive story-telling perspective. Her debut feature film, THE MIRROR NEVER LIES (2011), portrays the lives of sea wanderers in the Indonesian ocean. Her second feature, THE SEEN AND UNSEEN (2017), explores a cinematic universe of dualism based on Balinese philosophy. Both films travelled to more than 50 film festivals around the world and received approximately 30 awards, nationally and internationally, including the Generation Kplus Grand Prix for Best Feature Film at Berlin International Film Festival 2018 for The Seen and Unseen (2017). She also creates short films to exhibit her voice and vision for filmmaking. AFTER FOLLOWING DIANA (2015), MEMORIA (2016), and SEKAR (2018), her most recent short film, BACK HOME (2019), became part of omnibus Japan-based production, ANGEL SIGN (2019). Lately, she has also expanded her directorial work into theatre. Her debut theatrical work, based on her second film and also titled The Seen and Unseen, was performed at Esplanade Singapore 2018 and Asia TOPA Melbourne 2019, and her latest offering is monologue, stage and virtual performance, NUSA YANG HILANG (2021). At present, she is finishing her third feature, a story about an Indonesian teenager, YUNI (2021), which is an Indonesian, Singaporean, French, Australian production, and is also working on her fourth feature, an intimate film set in the 1960’s, exploring the rights and wrongs of a woman’s life. Before, Now & Then (working title), is now in the post-production stage.
