Updated on
Summary
Indonesian novelist Damien Dematra made a film based on his book about US President Barack Obama's childhood in Jakarta, and it's due for release in June, ahead of Obama's visit to the world's biggest Muslim country. During the movie's research and development, interviews were used from Obama's friends, neighbors, and family. The film will be in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. A member of the film crew expressed the difficulties the team faced in showing the conditions of the1970s and to choose the right locations with limited time. Indonesians feel that Obama is part of the Indonesian people, and it is difficult to record the moments as he (Obama) becomes one of the world's top persons now, said German G Mintapradja, the film's Director of Photography while filming at Cimahi, West Java Province. The film's director also expressed difficulties making a movie based on true events. The movie has sparked some controversy for a scene in which Obama recites the Quran and prays like a Muslim. But at the last minute, the filmmaker decided to drop the scene. Obama lived with his mother Stanley Ann Dunham and Indonesian step-father from 1967 to 1971. The movie is scheduled to have its first screening in Jakarta on June 15.
