Three Batak dreamers chase Jakarta gold and find something way more complicated.
Back when urbanization was a new phenomenon, this film captured the aspirations desired by three young men from North Sumatera of Batak ethnicity. As the case with other regional area, people from the rural realm were convinced that their way of live is inadequate, so that they "need" to make it in the city, or bust. So Sabar, Tigor and Sahat went up and down their luck in order to find their desired "gold" in a strange land.
Direction
Asrul Sani captures Jakarta's soulless promise with painful precision.
Writing
Dialogue that hurts because it's too real about broken dreams.
Director
Asrul Sani
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
One of the first Indonesian films to explicitly critique Suharto-era development propaganda, using Batak protagonists to highlight ethnic minorities erased by national 'progress' narratives.
Asrul Sani cast actual recent migrants he met at Jakarta's bus terminals, giving the film its devastating documentary-like authenticity.
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