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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Sukarno’s Daughter Given Rights to Biopic

Jakarta Globe, Lenny Tristia Tambun, Mar 11, 2014

A still from the official trailer of ‘Soekarno – Indonesia Merdeka.’
(YouTube Image)

Jakarta. The Central Jakarta Commercial Court has handed over the rights to a popular biopic about Indonesia’s founding president to his second daughter Rachmawati Sukarnoputri after a months-long legal dispute over the film’s content.

Based on the verdict, the court ruled that producer Raam Punjabi and director Hanung Bramantyo have violated the intellectual rights of the Sukarno family.

“The legal process has been going on for three months, and thank God, the judge has decided that the rights to ['Soekarno: Indonesia Merdeka'] are mine,” Rachmawati said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Rachmawati’s lawyer Leonard Simorangkir added that she will proceed to claim material compensation for the film, though the amount of money is still undecided.

“The movie made a profit,” Leonard said. “We want to claim the profit through legal means. It’s up to Ibu Rachmawati where she wants to give the money to.”

However, according to the lawsuit, Rachmawati only asked Raam Punjabi and Hanung Bramantyo to apologize and pay a symbolic sum of Rp 2 ($0.000176).

“In this lawsuit, its not the amount of money that Ibu Rachmawati concerned about,” Leonard said. “The important thing is that they feel guilty and pay the damages, even though it’s only Rp 2.”

Speaking on the topic of biopics, Rachmawati stressed that all filmmakers have the right to make films about important historical figures, as long as they obtain the consent of their descendants beforehand.

“In this case, we made an agreement that had to be obeyed by both parties,” she said. “It turned out that the party that partnered with me flouted the agreement and made the film different from the original script. It ruined Sukarno’s character.”

She said that she came up with the original idea for the movie and only hired Hanung to direct the movie on the recommendation of prominent Indonesian actress Widyawati.

“Hanung was merely a painter I asked to paint,” she said. “The plans and ideas were mine. I knew my father much better than he and Raam Punjabi did.”

Rachmawati had already filed a separate defamation lawsuit with the special crimes division of the Jakarta Police last year.

“I hope that they can be made suspects as soon as possible,” she said.

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