John de Rantau

John de Rantau (born 2 January 1970) is an Indonesian film director. His film Denias Senandung Di Atas Awan (Denias, Singing on the Cloud) was Indonesia's submission to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but not nominated.

John de Rantau
Born (1970-01-02) 2 January 1970
Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia
CitizenshipIndonesian
OccupationDirector
Years active1990s –
Notable work
Denias Senandung Di Atas Awan
Obama Anak Menteng
Wage

Biography

De Rantau was born in Padang, West Sumatra, on 2 January 1970. He finished his studies at the Jakarta Art Institute, then began directing television serials.[1]

De Rantau made his featured film debut in 2005 with Mencari Madonna (Looking for Madonna), a film about a Papuan teenager who becomes infected with AIDS and seeks a cure. The story was written by Garin Nugroho, who also produced the film.[2] The film was intended to be submitted to several film festivals, including the Singapore International Film Festival and Shanghai International Film Festival, but disallowed as it was still in digital format, and not 35mm as required.[3]

His second film, Denias Senandung Di Atas Awan (Denias, Singing on the Cloud), was released in 2006 and depicted a young Papuan child who must overcome racism to receive an education. The film won several awards, including Best Children's Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. It was also submitted to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film;[4] the film was not nominated.

In 2009 de Rantau collaborated with Nugroho on Generasi Biru (Blue Generation), a fictionalised biopic of the band Slank.[5] In 2010, de Rantau and Damien Dematra released a fictionalised version of US president Barack Obama's childhood in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Entitled Obama Anak Menteng (Obama, Child of Menteng), the film was an adaptation of Dematra's novel of the same name. It was criticised for inaccuracy, including depicting the family as employing a transvestite maid.[6]

De Rantau released his fourth film, entitled Semesta Mendukung (The Universe Supports), in October 2011. Inspired by Yohanes Surya, trainer of Indonesia's International Physics Olympiad team, the film followed a young Madurese child named Arief who searches for his mother through the Olympiad.[7] After Mestakung, he directed the serial Keluarga Minus (Minus' Family), which starred Minus Karoba; de Rantau had been helping Karoba's career since the latter appeared in Mencari Madonna and Denias.[8]

References
Footnotes
  1. KapanLagi.com, John de Rantau.
  2. Harvey 2006, Looking for Madonna.
  3. Kompas 2005, Sutradara John De Rantau.
  4. Koehler 2007, Foreign-language contenders.
  5. Basral 2009, Kenyang tapi Tak Terpuaskan.
  6. Kurniasari 2010, Audiences mixed on ‘Obama.
  7. Kurniasari 2011, In a boy’s dream.
  8. Kriswanti 2011, Minus Karoba, disukai.
Bibliography
  • Basral, Akmal Nasery (9 March 2009). "Kenyang tapi Tak Terpuaskan" [Full but Not Satisfied]. Tempo (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • Harvey, Dennis (8 May 2006). "Looking for Madonna". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • "John de Rantau". KapanLagi.com (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • Koehler, Robert (7 December 2007). "Foreign-language contenders". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • Kriswanti, Wida (13 September 2011). "Minus Karoba, disukai John De Rantau Membawa Keberuntungan Kariernya" [Minus Karoba, being liked by John De Rantau Helped His Career]. Tabloid Bintang (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • Kurniasari, Triwik (4 July 2010). "Audiences mixed on 'Obama Anak Menteng'". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • Kurniasari, Triwik (23 October 2011). "In a boy's dream". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  • "Sutradara John De Rantau Kehilangan Kesempatan" [Director John De Rantau Missed Out]. Kompas (in Indonesian). 16 August 2005. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
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