January 27, 2010 - 7:00 P.M.
Jonathan Edwards College Theater, 68 High Street
>click here for directions / link to campus map

FILM SCREENING

Opera Jawa

with Composer, Rahayu Supanggah*

Directed by Garin Nugroho
Music: Rahayu Supanggah
Indonesian, with subtitles in English
Indonesia, 2006; 120 minutes

"Inspired by the famous story 'The Abduction of Sita'from the great classic of ancient Indian and Southeast Asian literature the Ramayana, OPERA JAWA is a musical like no other in cinema. It tells of a passionate love triangle that leads inexorably to conflict, violence and death."

Story: Setyo and Siti live a peaceful life as husband and wife, selling earthenware in their village. But when Setyo is called away on business, a flirtatious butcher, Ludiro, takes advantage of Siti’s loneliness to seduce her. Tempted by song and dance, Siti initially refuses his advances but acquiesces in a moment of weakness, setting the stage for an epic battle between the two men. Located in lush forests and on pristine beaches of Java, director Garin Nugroho bases his deeply imagistic and dazzling visual narrative on the “The Abduction of Sita,” from the Hindu epic, The Ramayana.
http://www.pyramidefilms.com/pyramideinternational/FilmFch.php?monFilm=29

Rahayu Supanggah is an internationally renowned Indonesian composer for both film and stage --including Robert Wilson's 'I La Galigo' and Garin Nugroho's 'Opera Jawa'(commissioned by Peter Sellars for the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna 2006 to celebrate the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) "Opera Jawa" won the Best Composer award for Rahayu Supanggah's score at the inaugural Asian Film Awards in 2007.