Krokodillipisarad
Atmospheric debut is set in a West Java crocodile farm.
Mother always knows best in “Crocodile Tears”. Tumpal Tampubolon’s low-key debut feature charts the unhealthy relationship between a young man and his overbearing mother, gradually shifting from family drama into more supernatural territory. The focus is on the uncomfortable bond between mother and son Johan. Working together, the duo are everything to each other. Mama showers her boy with kisses, demands shoulder massages and holds him close in her arms as they share a bed. There are no boundaries and no privacy. The question of what happened to Johan’s father is one that runs throughout the film, sparking speculation and rumours. While it has all the elements for shlocky B-movie fare the film favours restraint over excess, atmospherics over explanations.
Allan Hunter, Screen International
Tumpal Tampubolon (1979) is a cinephile turned director, screenwriter and actor based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Winning the Best Short Fiction Screenplay Development Award at the Jakarta International Film Festival in 2005 for his first screenplay “The Last Believer” gave him first-hand experience in filmmaking. Since then, he has written and directed several short films that have been screened in various local and international film festivals. In 2010, he was selected to attend the Asian Film Academy in Busan. In 2014, he won the Citra Award, Indonesia's most prestigious film award, for Best Original Screenplay for “Tabula Rasa”. His short film “The Sea Calls for Me” (2021) won the Sonje Award at the Busan International Film Festival.
Air Mata Buaya (Crocodile Tears, 2024)