Arteria Dahlan Protested, Sundanese Language Used In Nana's Film Instead Aired At The Berlin Film Festival

Nana's Film (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Arteria Dahlan's statement made netizens excited. Member of Commission III of the DPR, Arteria Dahlan, was considered to have offended the Sundanese language when criticizing the head of the High Prosecutor's Office in a working meeting with the Attorney General's Office.

He also apologized to the people of West Java for his remarks that caused the polemic. The regional language should be a source of pride because it is one of Indonesia's cultural treasures. This is evident in the film Nana, which uses Sundanese.

The film, which uses the title Before, Now & Then for international distribution, is a film by director Kamila Andini and produced by Ifa Isfansyah with Gita Fara. The film was selected to premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Main Competition Program.

The Governor of West Java (Jabar) M Ridwan Kamil expressed his pride in the selection of the Sundanese language film "Before, Now & Then" (Nana) to be screened at the Berlin Film Festival.

"This is a historic event. There is an Indonesian film finalist at the Berlin film festival and the first time it is in a regional language, namely Sundanese," said Ridwan Kamil, quoted from ANTARA on Friday, January 21.

Ridwan said that this achievement needs to be appreciated, especially the West Java Provincial Government has also provided support in the production of the film. According to Ridwan, the world's recognition of the work of the nation's children should be appreciated considering that the issue of diversity is currently in the spotlight.

"Especially with the issue of language diversity that is in the spotlight, this achievement is very proud to show that you are not ashamed to speak regional languages, preserve regional languages in new ways through the medium of film, content and so on," he said.

"It is proven by creativity that the world respects. If the world respects the time of our nation, it does not appreciate it. So this is the point of the revival of regional languages in the international world through the inclusion of the film Nana at the Berlin International Film Festival," continued Ridwan Kamil.

Meanwhile, Acting Head of the Department of Tourism and Culture, Benny Bachtiar, said that cultural traditions could be global if they were packaged with a good concept. "We can prove that this cultural tradition can be worldwide. This is history for the Sundanese people," said Benny.

The film "Before, Now & Then" (Nana) can be a momentum for the government and the Indonesian film industry to further explore the potential of local history to be turned into a work. Moreover, said Benny, many Sundanese legend stories can be turned into a film.

"We have the legend of Lutung Kasarung, Nyi Roro Kidul, the story can be picked up and can enrich the nuances of national culture," he said.

"Before, Now & Then" (Nana) played by Happy Salma, Laura Basuki and Ibnu Jamil with a 1960s background, tells the life story of Raden Nana Sunani which was adapted from a fragment of the novel "Jais Darga Namaku" by Ahda Imran.