Indonesian actor Reza Rahadian brought his directorial feature debut On Your Lap (Pangku) back to the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF), where it ran in the main competition as the first completed title from last year’s inaugural JAFF Future Project.
The film emerged as a breakout success after its world premiere at Busan in September, where it earned four prizes including the KB Vision audience award and Face of the Future. It went on to screen at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and QCinema in the Philippines, where it won the Netpac award for best Asian first film.
In its home market, the film has struck a chord with Indonesian audiences, recording more than 550,000 cinema admissions since opening on November 6, marking a significant box office success for an independent local drama.
Set in the late 1980s, it follows a single mother who serves coffee while sitting on male customers’ laps in a ‘kopi pangku’ coffee shop located along Jalan Pantai Utara (Pantura for short) – a major transportation artery along the north coast of Java Island – frequented by bus and truck drivers.
Reza came across the unique phenomenon of kopi pangku when he was filming (as an actor) in the area in 2017. “On my way back to the hotel, I passed this area of kopi pangku,” he recalls. “It was the first time I had seen that kind of activity. People were trying to make a living and struggling to bring food on the table. At that time, I was thinking I should make a film about kopi pangku and tell their stories.”
However, his busy acting schedule did not allow him to get the project off the ground until he began writing the screenplay with Felix K. Nessi in 2024.
Reza first tried his hand at directing when he was asked to make 2011 short The Other Side (Sebelah) by Indonesian auteur Garin Nugroho, also founder of JAFF. “Garin was the first person who said to me that I have the talent to direct,” says Reza.
“After Sebelah, I found the love for directing, which was something I would have loved to explore. But due to my acting career, it was hard to split at that time.” He has also directed 2013 anthology film Wanita Tetap Wanita and 2020 miniseries Sementara Selamanya.
After spending two decades in acting and filmmaking, he decided it was “time to create my own feature film and also make it as a love letter to all mothers for their hard work and love for their loved ones”.
Special tribute
Following his acting debut in 2004 TV series Culunnya Pacarku, Reza appeared in more than 70 films spanning various genres and received five Citra Awards from the Indonesian Film Festival. He is most well-known among Indonesian audiences for biopic film franchise Habibie & Ainun and comedy film franchise My Stupid Boss.
His acting portfolio also includes Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, winner of Locarno’s Golden Leopard. This was one of three films in a JAFF special tribute titled Reza Rehadian: 20 Years Reflection, along with Something In The Way, which played in Berlinale’s Panorama strand, and The Hijra directed by Garin.
In her first leading role, rising actress Claresta Taufan toplines the cast of On Your Lap and will next be seen in upcoming epic Queen Of Malacca. “My background as an actor helps me guide the actors in delivering their characters,” says Reza, who discovered Claresta through a casting tape.
Key crew such as cinematographer Teo Gay Hian from Malaysia, production designer Eros Eflin and editor Akhmad Fesdi Anggoro have previously worked on productions that star Reza. “That makes the communication easier. I know their creativity would fit the needs of Pangku,” he adds.
The production is backed by a single private investor, Melyana Tjahyadikarta, with the support of the Red Sea Fund. Producers are Arya Ibrahim, Reza’s manager and co-founder of Gambar Gerak, and Gita Fara whose notable credits include The Seen And Unseen and Before, Now And Then, both by Kamila Andini, and Nyai and Samsara by Garin.
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