''Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan'' (phrasal translation: ''A Diary of Letters to God'') is a 2011 Indonesian

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Harris Nizam. The film stars Dinda Hauw and Alex Komang, it follows a young girl's struggle with cancer. It was the best-selling Indonesian film of 2011.

Plot

Keke (Dinda Hauw) is a young girl with a loving father (Alex Komang) and mother, as well as loyal friends. She is diagnosed with

Rhabdomyosarcoma Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly aggressive form of cancer that develops from mesenchymal cells that have failed to fully differentiate into myocytes of skeletal muscle. Cells of the tumor are identified as rhabdomyoblasts. There are four subt ...

(a cancer of

connective tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops from the mesenchyme derived from the mesoderm the middle embryonic germ layer. Connective tiss ...

s), which is unusual at her age. After undergoing twenty-five sessions of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

, the once healthy and beautiful Keke finds herself sickly and bald, with a disfigured face. Although the treatment initially works, the cancer returns a year later. Doctors estimate that Keke has three months to live. To help her deal with her pain, she begins keeping a diary; through her writing she finds the strength to hold on for a year. As she begins to accept her fate, she writes a letter to God in her diary, asking that her family be kept safe.

Cast

* Dinda Hauw as Keke * Alex Komang as the Father

Production

''Surat'' was based on the true story of Gita Sesa Wanda Cantika, a 15-year-old student who was diagnosed with and on 25 December 2006 died of the first reported case of Rhabdomyosarcoma in Indonesia. The story had been reported in 2009 by a pair of

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

gers known as Agnes and Davonar. These blog posts were widely read and later novelised under the name ''Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan''; the novelisation sold 350,000 copies. ''Surat'' was the feature film debut of Dinda Hauw. Most of the cast and crew were relatively unknown; Alex Komang was the main exception. The film was produced by Sarjono Sutrisno, of Skylar Pictures.

Release and reception

''Surat'' was released on 7 July 2011 after a press screening on two days earlier. It was the most-viewed Indonesian film of the year, seen by more than 750,000 people. This was down from previous years. Indah Setiawati, writing for ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...

'', described ''Surat'' as a "heartwarming movie about spirit, family and friendship" that would make audiences cry, despite some technical deficiencies.

Awards

''Surat'' was nominated for three Citra Awards at the 2011

Indonesian Film Festival The Indonesian Film Festival (Indonesian: Festival Film Indonesia, 'FFI') is an annual awards ceremony organised by the Indonesian Film Board and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology to celebrate cinematic achievements in ...

. It did not win any. At the 2012

Indonesian Movie Awards The Annual Indonesian Movie Actor Awards (formerly Indonesian Movie Awards) are annual awards that have been presented to filmmakers in Indonesia since 2007. The trophy given is called Piala Layar Emas. Winners in "Best" categories are selected b ...

, the film won Best Newcomer for Dinda Hauw.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

*{{IMDb title, 2112276, Surat Kecil untuk Tuhan 2011 films 2011 biographical drama films Indonesian biographical drama films Films set in 2004 Films set in 2006