AMRUS NATALSYA WHO RECREATES THE DISPOSSESSED IN TWILIGHT

By Mahardika Yudha

Indonesia | In Indonesian with English subtitles | 2021 | 197 min | PG13 (Brief Nudity)

Asian Premiere

Indonesian sculptor and painter Amrus Natalsya (b. 1933, Sumatra) was one of many who were detained without trial during the violent anti-communist purges in 1965–66. Natalsya was released in 1973.

After the 30th September Movement coup attempt was attributed to the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), cultural organisations which were deemed to be associated with the PKI had to disband. These include LEKRA (Institute of People’s Culture) and their affiliated group, Sanggar Bumi Tarung (Fighting Grounds art association), which counted Natalsya among their members. The people’s struggle was a concern that surfaced in their artistic work and brings to mind the social realist practices of artists like Sudjojono and Affandi.

This documentary traces Natalsya’s personal journey and artistic development from the late 1950s to the present. It draws from extensive interviews with the artist, his contemporaries, art historians like Jim Supangkat, as well as Oey Hay Djoen, the leader of LEKRA. Director Mahardika Yudha also weaves in rare footage of artworks in situ—including the titular The Dispossessed in Twilight—as well as landmark exhibitions and events in Indonesian history. All of this offers a new perspective on Indonesian art history of this period. What also emerges is the enduring strength of a man’s convictions about artmaking and humanism in the face of hardship.

Amrus Natalsya Who Recreates the Dispossessed in Twilight was part of the Press & Industry selection at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2022).