APM - Asian Project Market

 

Back to list Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash (aka Love and Vengeance)

Director’s Profile

Edwin was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, in 1978. His short film Kara, the Daughter of a Tree (2005) premiered in the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival in 2005, and his first feature, Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (2008), received a FIPRESCI Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2009. His most recent feature, Postcards from the Zoo (2012), was in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.

Synopsis

Ajo Kawir has not been able to get an erection since he was a young teenager. At 12, he and his best friend, Tokek, were secretly stalking a young widow named Rona Merah, when they witnessed her being raped by two police officers. Tokek managed to escape and hide, but one of the officers caught Ajo Kawir and made him watch and join them in raping her again. Ajo Kawir failed to sustain an erection, and his penis has never gotten hard since.

That was the beginning of Ajo Kawir’s violence, his youthful energy channeled into fighting. One of these encounters leads him to Iteung, a girl with great skill in the martial arts and, to his surprise, they fall in love.

Unfortunately, Iteung has an affair and becomes pregnant. She confesses to her husband, Ajo Kawir, who is enraged. When he walks out on her, Iteung is devastated and regrets her actions.

Iteung kills her lover, and goes to jail for nine years. When Iteung is finally released, she hunts down the two policemen who jailed her, and kills them. At home, Ajo Kawir is waiting. He has no problem with impotence now, and is sure that he can repair their marriage. But, when Iteung comes, police officers are waiting to escort her back to prison.

Once again, Ajo Kawir’s penis will have to wait.

Achievements

2021 Locarno Film Festival - Golden Leopard
2021 Toronto International Film Festival
2021 Busan International Film Festival
2021 Valladolid International Film Festival - Best Director of Photography
2021 BFI London Film Festival
2021 Tokyo International Film Festival
2021 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
2021 Singapore International Film Festival - Opening Film
2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Released in Indonesia, Japan

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