SINOPSIS “ATJEH LON SAYANG”:

# My beloved Aceh
# Land of Aceh
# My beloved land
# The land of my birth and my death
# The land of ancestor and forefathers’ legacy

# The vast area of fields

# The matters of life have been arranged
# There’s consolation for death
# Grief felt as gladness
# I love Aceh until I die
(Traditional song of Acehnese: “Tanoh Lon Sayang”

The earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004 destroyed about 60

km coastal area of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam. Approximately 150.000 people
died as martyrs , hundreds of children become orphans, sheltered at different
refugee camps
“Atjeh Lon Sayang” describes the condition in Banda Aceh and
surroundings, 3 months after the earthquake and tsunami disaster. Munawar
tells the moments when tsunami occurred, “That day, I was reciting the Holy
Qur’an. I saw people running. ‘What happens?
They said, ‘Tide, tidewater!”
But I said to myself , ‘Where is the tide?’
However more people running. I also ran toward the mosque. At that time, the
tide wasn’t very high. I went back to find my mother. I saw houses and coconut
palms capsized, corpses, flying boards, everything. There were bodies pinned
by house, bodies without heads. I also saw people crying, relatives and mothers
crying. Afterwards I saw people went up to the mosque to pray.
At the mosque, someone said to me, ‘ Don’t cry, it’s a test from Allah.’”
Munawar with 150 children of disaster victims are now in the care of
Tengku Abdul Razak at Dayah Daruz Zahiddin, Aceh Besar. They are still
struggling to overcome the trauma with different kinds of activities at Dayah
indefinitely.
“When they came, their mental condition and attitude was rather
uncommon compared to other children. They aren’t as cheerful as others.
Children usually occupy themselves with playing. But those children, the same
as other tsunami victims, seem to be under restraint. Whereas here, in fact
they are free to do whatever they want. The grief controls their soul. They
don’t show the conduct of children in general,” said Tengku Abdul Razak.
A group of artists wanders through refugee camps offering ubat ate
(heart remedy). And, a young artist reveals his anxiety of Aceh condition
before and after the disaster, “Aceh is never free from conflict. There’s always
chaotic situation. Constant fighting. Maybe it’s due to the role of Snock
Houngranje who left behind devide et impera, politic of dissention. Within
Aceh society, I feel there are seeds of hate, not only between Aceh and
Indonesia, but also among Aceh people themselves.
We see trauma that’s continually awakened. There’s fear that we
don’t know how to handle it, terror that we don’t know how to overcome it. I
see the society becomes ignorant, bored with the condition of life. When the
tsunami hit cities and destroyed villages, then I realized that the disaster
failed to bring changes to the society,” Tengku Reza Indria explained.
Actually, “Atjeh Lon Sayang” tells spirit of Aceh’s people with
some cases. Munawar is one of them who still build his spirit to recover hisself.
Tengku Abdul Razak is one of them who still care and spread his spirit to
anybody. Tengku Reza Indria is one of them who still believe that they should
change their mind.

A MAtaHAti production – TENGKU REZA INDRIA, MUNAWAR, TENGKU ABDUL

RAZAK – Produced & Directed by: SYAIFUL H. YUSUF – Camera-persons: YON
HELFY & SYAIFUL H. YUSUF – Edited by: KOQO FERRIZQO – Production Designed
by: SYAIFUL H. YUSUF – Production Manager: RATNA S. HALIM – Researcher:
SUPARYONO

Contact Filmmaker: matahatipro@yahoo.com

Available in DVD (Rp 250.000,-)