Watch the first trailer for Makbul Mubarak’s ‘Autobiography’ ahead of Venice premiere

The first trailer for Makbul Mubarak’s Autobiography has dropped ahead of the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

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Autobiography, Makbul’s first full-length feature film, follows the story of a young man who is forced to choose between loyalty and justice when he confronts the past of his father figure, a former general in Indonesia’s military dictatorship. The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which will be held from August 31 to September 10, and will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Contemporary World Cinema section while the festival is held from September 8 to 18.

Starring Kevin Ardilova, Arswendy Bening Swara, Yusuf Mahardika, Lukman Sardi and Haru Sandra, ‘Autobiography’ is produced by Yulia Evina Bhara’s KawanKawan Media alongside a multinational cast of producers from Indonesia, France, Singapore, Poland, Philippines, Germany and Qatar.

Watch the trailer below.

In a statement to Variety, Makbul shared that the story of Autobiography is “very specific to Indonesia because it addresses the legacy of our history”. However, he explained, the movie addresses current topics faced by Indonesians today, such as “the heavy price of ignorance, the rise of populism, and what does it mean to be our true self in a world where the concept of self is continuously shaped by our relationship with other people”.

Makbul’s own father was a key inspiration for the film, the filmmaker told Media Indonesia. “My childhood days were spent in a family where most of the members worked as servants of the state,” he shared. “My father was very obedient to his superiors, to the country, without ever asking much about the reasons behind the orders imposed on him.”‎

As a Berlinale Talents and Asian Film Academy alumni, Makbul has previously directed the critically acclaimed short films The Dog’s Lullaby (2016), Malediction (2017) and A Plastic Cup of Tea Before Her (2018), which have earned awards at the Thai Short Film & Video Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, and Festival Film Indonesia, the Academy Awards of Indonesia.

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