Onde Mande Film Shows The Warmth And Beauty Of Minang Cultural Nature

Director, producer, and actor of the film Onde Mande (Ivan Two Putra/VOI)

JAKARTA - The film Onde Mande produced by Visinema will air in the near future. As the title is already a tagline for the Minangkabau tribe, the film directed by Paul Fauzan Agusta raises people's lives in a village on the banks of Lake Maninjau and displays many Minang culture and natural beauty there.

Paul said that Onde Mande was an offering for his father. Meanwhile, Sigiran Village was chosen as the shooting location because the village on the banks of Lake Maninjau is his father's hometown.

I present this film to my father who always ask when I will make a film that he can watch. As Minang people, I also want to present this film to the people there, Sigiran Village, my father's hometown," said Paul Fauzan Agusta during a press conference at Senayan Park, Central Jakarta on Tuesday, June 13.

To present authentic works, the production team also did not want to be half-hearted in displaying Minang culture. This film uses Minang as its introductory language.

"I am optimistic that the wider community can accept it, even though we use 90 percent Minang language, but there is Indonesian subtitles. So, those who are not Minang people can also enjoy it," said Cristian Imanuell as producer.

Regarding the use of Minang, Jajang C. Noer as one of the actors recognized Onde Mande as one of the most difficult films he had ever played. Even though he was Minang-blooded, he admitted that he was not fluent in speaking his mother's language.

"Why do I want to play here, because I know Paul from his age of 4. So I can't refuse, even though I got the scenario when I realized that the role was very difficult. Half dead I memorized the Minang language dialogue," said Jajang.

Meanwhile, Emir Mahira, who also starred in Onde Mande, admitted that he saw himself when he played Anwar. He mentioned that there are similarities between himself and the characters played.

"Anwar is strong close to me personally. Anwar and I have our own journeys, and we find our own identities when we return home," Emir said.

Apart from Jajang C. Noer and Emir Mahira, this film also stars other well-known actors and actresses, such as Shenina Cinnamon, Ajil Ditto, Shahabi Sakri and Jose Rizal Manua.

This film tells the story of a community in a village on the banks of Lake Maninjau who conspired to be able to get a competition prize worth IDR 2 billion, after one of the residents who won the competition died before successfully receiving the prize.

Through various means, villagers: Ni Ta (Jajang C Noer), Da Am (Jose Rizal Manua), Si Mar (Shenina Cinnamon) and others tried to convince the giver of the competition that Angku Wan as the recipient of the prize was still alive. Not because of greed, the prize will be used for a noble purpose, namely building a village for mutual prosperity, as the last message of Angku Wan.

However, the plans prepared by villagers invite pros and cons. The situation is getting more and more complicated when Anwar (Emir Mahira) as the representative who gave the competition gift came to the village suddenly to validate the winner.

For information, the film Onde Mande will premiere in theaters and be enjoyed by film lovers throughout Indonesia on June 22.