Director Kamila Andini calls Before, Now & Then, “a simple period film,” but Indonesia’s tragic history reverberates throughout this tale of a woman’s lost love and her eventual redemption.
Nana (Happy Salma) and her sister are refugees in the late 1960s, escaping into the thick forests of West Java to flee General Suharto’s anti-communist army, which has murdered her husband and their father. Eventually she remarries a wealthy plantation owner, very different from her first husband, and her new life is comfortable but menial. Enduring her husband’s many affairs, Nana abides, finding comfort in her children and her many memories of her first life. Until she meets one of her husband’s mistresses, Ino (Laura Basuki), and to her surprise, finds a soul mate with whom she can share many painful secrets. Kamila Andini’s fourth feature has been compared to the work of Wong Kar-Wai and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Basuki won the Golden Bear for Best Supporting Actress at the 72nd Berlinale. “[A]n intoxicating work that holds the viewer in a tight, loving embrace that won’t let go.” –Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter
Director Biography
Kamila Andini is a mother and filmmaker who was born in 1986 in Jakarta. Her films include The Mirror Never Lies (2011), The Seen and Unseen (2017) and Yuni, (2021). Before, Now & Then (2022) is her most recent feature.