Wregas Bhanuteja director & writer Penyalin Cahaya / Photocopier talk

Film Penyalin Cahaya, has won the most winners from the 2021 Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) by collecting 12 Citra trophies from 17 nominations received. Among them, Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor.

The film Copying Light tells the story of Sur (Shenina Cinnamon) who lost his scholarship because he was deemed to have defamed the faculty after taking selfies of himself while drunk was spread.

Here is the trailer

On limited occasions, CINEMAGS, represented by Nuty Laraswaty, also interviewed Wregas Bhanuteja the director and writer of the film Copying Light, the following is a summary

1. CINEMAGS : What are the factors that can make the audience feel close to the characters in this film?

Wregas Bhanuteja :

In the process of writing the characters I was greatly assisted by the players in deepening the character layers. I discussed with Shenina, Chicco, Lutesha, Jerome, Dea, Giulio, and the rest of the cast.

They each did their own personal research for the characters I wrote about in the screenplay, then they came to me and provided input for gestures, dialogues, habits, how to stand, how to smile, and so on. This is what I think can support the realism of the characters and make them feel like people we meet in everyday life.

2. CINEMAGS : Who is your favorite character and why?

Wregas Bhanuteja :

My favorite character is of course Sur. It is through him that this story is told. For me Sur is the copyist of the light itself.

He was the one who brought the light of hope, which he then copied to give to others. He multiplied it back to give to more people. So slowly the light of hope that was initially small slowly became big and defeated the darkness (evil) that existed.

I also got a lot of help from Shenina in deepening the character of Sur. He gave me input about how Sur reacts to a conflict, about how Sur experiences happiness, about how Sur is pressured by his own close people, and so on. Sur’s emotional range is very wide and Shenina is able to execute all layers of emotion well.

3. CINEMAGS: The process of ending the story in this film hangs a little with certain symbols/metaphors. Can you explain further about the meaning of this symbolization?

Wregas Bhanuteja :

Fogging at the end, in my opinion, illustrates how the antagonist of this film can manipulate a routine program for the community, into an agenda or personal activity.

This form of evil that is very close to power relations needs to be resisted.

At the end of the story, Sur and Farah decide to fight back by spreading their story through photocopy paper.

For me, photocopying paper is a form of story that is reproduced so that the story can be heard to a wider audience. Sur faces various challenges where his story is not believed and heard by those around him. With the photocopies that he spread from the top of the building, people slowly emerged who believed his story and wanted to help Sur to tell his own story.

These stories and passions were copied and reproduced to defeat evil.