JAKARTA - There are not a few role models in the Indonesian entertainment world. The couple Misbach Yusa Biran and Nani Wijaya, for example. Both are the perfect embodiments of true love. They support each other. Especially when Misbach builds Cinematek.
His activities at the Institute that archives Indonesian cinema were carried out voluntarily. No money came in. Even he can't support his family. Nani appears as a savior. He is transformed like Inggit Garnasih in the world of cinema. He became the backbone and paid for all the needs of his family.
The love for art was the beginning of the closeness of Misbach Yusa Biran and Nani Wijaya. Misbach's actions from a young age have applied the life of an artist. He devoted himself to writing.
He has the pen name M. Bach. The name is similar to the famous composer Sebastian Bach. The world of writing then led Misbach to pursue the world of film as a screenwriter and famous director.
The Nani is the opposite. The woman who was born in Cirebon has a special interest in dance. Her courage in the world of dance became Nani's way of starting a career as a film star. Her name then appeared in many films of the Old Order and New Order era.
The closeness to art and the world of film then brought the two together. Even Misbach and Nani married in 1969. The marriage lasts. The two of them support each other. Mainly idealism matters. Misbach never interferes with Nani's idealism in the film world. Likewise Nani.
The relationship between the two began to be tested when Misbach began spending a lot of time building Cinematek in 1975. The national film filing agency was built by Misbach and his friends from scratch. Instead of being able to pay many employees, funds for daily operations are not enough.
Moreover, Misbach chose to be fully involved in the filing world. Nani also fully supports her husband's decision.
The desire to revive the situation of artists at Senen also encouraged Ali Sadikin to accept the suggestion of artists to build Taman Ismail Marzuki and the Jakarta Arts Education Institute (LPKJ), which is now the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ).
"It was at LPKJ that Asrul Sani pushed for the idea of Misbach starting Cinematek with a makeshift budget. He brought himself from home: typing machines, lines, scissors, and others. Even Nani Wijaya, who she married in 1969 and was pregnant with their first child, Cahya Kamila, also took a city bus to look for photos to film studios," said historian JJ Rizal in his writing in Tempo Magazine entitled "Later Keburu Mati (2012)".
Affairs hold the principle, Misbach is the champion. Nani also understands that very well. In fact, when Misbach devoted himself to 100 percent in Sinematek. He is willing not to hold money to grow the Indonesian film archives. Everything so that Indonesian films do not disappear from circulation.
He even refused a lot of offers to make films. Moreover, films that smell have hot scenes. Misbach is the most anti. Like it or not, his family's life is disrupted. Practically Misbach's income has decreased a lot.
That's where Nani played a big role. She is like Inggit Garnasih in the world of film. Bung Karno's 2nd wife, Inggit Garnasih, is known as the backbone of the family. She was able to finance her husband's political agenda, Bung Karno, for the continuity of Indonesia's independence.
Nani Wijaya has her own way. She actually transformed into the backbone of the family to finance her husband to save film documentation from the early days of the Indonesian nation's founding. As a result, Nani's entire income as a famous star who was also supported by selling sirop, was used to finance her husband's family and big dreams.
Nani's sacrifice made Misbach live like a boarding house and ride in his own house. This is because all house affairs are financed by Nani. The sacrifice made Misbach focus on raising Sinematek to fame. Nani's services were not forgotten in the slightest.
He often boasted about his wife's sacrifice everywhere at every opportunity. Even though the two were then separated by death. Misbach died first in 2012. Nani then remarried to Misbach's best friend, Ajib Rosidi in 2017. Even then Nani died on March 16, 2023.
When the season for making sex films, he refused the offer to make such films. Of course it has an effect on the continuity of his family's life, due to reduced income. But because his wife is a famous star, namely Nani Wijaya, it doesn't matter to him.
In Misbach's memoarnva itself admits that his life depends a lot on his wife. He is indeed an idealist, who works wholeheartedly on everything that according to his opinion is important for society. Of course we must respect and thank Nani Wijaya, his wife, who without her love and sincerity towards her husband, surely Misbach will not be able to work on Sinematek and others, explained cultural observer Ajib Rosidi, who later became her second husband in the book Lekra Part of PKI(2015).