Closing Film: VENGEANCE IS MINE, ALL OTHERS PAY CASH

A rocky romance between an impotent fighter for hire and a tough female bodyguard sends them on a journey of genre-defying proportions.

Based on the best-selling novel by Eka Kurniawan, directed by Indonesian author & director Edwin, VENGEANCE IS MINE, ALL OTHERS PAY CASH (2021) is the first Indonesian film to win the prestigious Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival.

On 15 May we festively close the festival with this film about male patriarchy, about Ajo (Marthino Lio), a male fighter who fears nothing, not even death. However, his raging urge to fight is driven by a secret — his impotence.  When he crosses paths with a tough female bodyguard named Iteung (Ladya Cheryl), Ajo gets beaten black and blue, but also falls head over heels in love. A rocky yet sweet romance blossoms between Ajo and Iteung.

Edwin: “In this film, I would like to encourage people around me to chill on the macho man culture and take it easy with all the desperate efforts to hold on the mythical trophy of manliness.”

Edwin was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, in 1978. His short film KARA, THE DAUGHTER OF A TREE (2005) premiered in the Director’s Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival in 2005, and his first feature, BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY (2008), received a FIPRESCI Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2009. His second feature, POSTCARDS FROM THE ZOO (2012), was in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.

 

Meiske Taurisia, producer of the film, will be present at the screening and available for a Q&A session.

This year’s closing is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in The Hague.