Kamila Andini’s Venice Gap-Financing Market Project ‘Four Seasons in Java’ Tackles Power, Trauma in Indonesia

Indonesian auteur Kamila Andini is gearing up for what she calls “the hardest story I’ve ever created” with “Four Seasons in Java,” a magical realist drama that confronts the dark underbelly of progress and power in contemporary Indonesia.

The film, now in post-production and at the Venice Gap-Financing Market, follows Pertiwi, a woman who returns to her village after more than a decade in prison for killing a young man while defending herself from attempted rape. Her homecoming coincides with the arrival of electricity to the remote community, setting up what Andini describes as a collision between modernity and personal trauma that she sees “repeating in our daily life.”

“Development cost in our country is very expensive,” Andini explains. “We pay it with our body, tears, blood and life. And yet, we are still very far behind. Most of the development doesn’t give a future for the people, instead it only fulfills the political needs of people who are searching of power, and leaves nothing but trauma for the people.”

The project marks Andini’s third collaboration with producer and life partner Ifa Isfansyah through their company Forka Films, following the international success of “Yuni” (Platform Prize winner at Toronto 2021) and “Before, Now & Then” (Silver Bear at Berlinale 2022). But this latest effort pushes the boundaries of their partnership in new directions.

“Every time I work with Kamila, from one film to the next, I always want to challenge myself to achieve higher production value,” says Isfansyah. “I never did this kind of production as producer. It’s set in a mountain, which was challenging for the production process, logistic and technic. Kamila wanted to explore nature and technology. Kamila and I had never done this before in a film.”

The protagonist’s name carries symbolic weight — Pertiwi literally means “mother Earth” in Indonesian. “This character is a metaphor of Indonesia,” Andini reveals. “In Indonesia, we see land as the mother Earth, because in Java, ‘mother’ is the source of life. And this is where the relation of human and its nature begins in our culture.”

“I keep seeing how our leaders selling and damaging our land without seeing it as our source of life,” she adds.

Pertiwi’s journey home brings her face-to-face with the four men who sent her to prison — individuals who now dominate the village. Together with society’s marginalized — the mentally ill, former prostitutes and people with disabilities — she discovers that the injustices of her past persist in new forms.

The narrative blends magical realism with local mythology and pointed social critique, a tonal complexity Andini hopes will illuminate “how complex feminism in the global south is.” The story draws power from abandoned objects and forgotten people, with used electronics that mysteriously light up serving as metaphors for resilience and renewal.

The film’s themes carry urgent contemporary relevance. “The story based on many things that happens in contemporary Indonesia,” Andini notes. “Blackouts of electricity is still happening until now. Sexual harassment still happens and a lot of it done by people with power in the society.”

Recent headlines have only reinforced the story’s necessity. “As I wrote my script, a news story came up about a girl [who endured a] series of sexual harassment by 11 people in power. And just yesterday, a girl was found raped and dead in palm plantation,” Andini reveals. “Stories keep filling up even when I am creating the film. To be honest, it’s not easy even for me to create this kind of story since it breaks my heart every time, but I think it really is the time to talk about this.”

The production boasts a roster of international partners, including Netherlands Film Fund, Hubert Bals Fund, Sorfønd and co-production companies spanning the Netherlands (Lemming Film), Norway (Storm Films), France (Ici et Là Prods.), Germany (One Two Films) and Singapore (Giraffe Pictures).

“Each partner and co-producer on this film has different values,” Isfansyah explains. “Throughout every stage, from development to production, post-production and promotion, I needed their perspectives. I ensured that everything was aligned. Of the many partners involved, I was certain of one thing from the start: trust in Kamila’s vision.”

The producer has strategically aligned with Indonesian partners to ensure broader domestic reach, including newcomer Imajinari with strong digital promotion capabilities and Miles Films, a company instrumental in the Indonesian film revival.

As the project participates in Venice’s Gap Financing Market, the team seeks final funding for post-production, particularly visual effects, along with the right sales agent.

For Andini, the platform represents more than financial opportunity. “Meeting people that believed in the story, and support on this voice to raised, is sort of a collective power that I am looking for.”

Isfansyah hopes the completed work will spark crucial conversations, particularly among those in positions of power. “In every region, there are those in power,” he observes. “They often feel they are helping the weak in their own way, but that only makes the dominance increasingly imbalanced.”