A Distant Call

Runtime: 90'

Expected release: July 2024

Production stage: Production

Budget: €182.863 (57% in place)

1st feature: Yes

Looking for: Financing for the rest of our budget, along with early discussions with festivals, sales agents and distributors.

Synopsis:

In a country that increasingly persecutes LGBTQ+ people, an ancient way of life that recognises five genders survives in a remote village. Their last gender-transcendent leader must make a critical decision: conform and risk their culture’s extinction, or refuse and be ostracised by society.

Director’s profile:

Andrea Suwito is an independent documentary filmmaker from Semarang, Indonesia. Her films focus on character-driven narratives especially on underrepresented communities. Her projects have been presented at Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket, DOK Leipzig Short ’n Sweet, Edinburgh Pitch, Docs By The Sea, DMZ Industry, among others. Her first feature, A Distant Call is the recipient of SGIFF Southeast Asia Documentary Grant, DMZ Docs Development Fund and PROCIREP Commission Télévision fund. She was a fellow of Scottish Documentary Institute: Connecting Stories 2021. She is currently an Erasmus+ scholar for the Doc Nomads program.

Producer’s profile:

Finbar Somers is a British/Irish producer. He studied BSc Film and Television Production at the University of York, and currently resides in London working as a producer through his company Umbra Motion Picture Company. Umbra’s work straddles documentary, fiction and commercial. Finbar’s projects have been presented at Sheffield DocFest, DMZ Industry, Docs By The Sea, Global Short Docs among others.
Mandy Marahimin is an Indonesian film producer, working through her company Talamedia. She produces both fiction and documentaries. She was also the Outreach Director for Good Pitch Southeast Asia and Good Pitch Indonesia. She was the interim director of InDocs, a non-profit organisation with missions to cultivate talents in documentary and to grow the documentary ecosystem in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.”