Garuda Power – The Spirit Within

Synopsis

GARUDA POWER is a fascinating documentary that dives deep into the history of action cinema in Indonesia, from its first Chinese-influenced martial arts movies of the 1930s, James Bond copies of the swinging 1960s, Bruce Lee-alikes and super hero comic book adaptations of the 1970s, the golden age of the 1980s up to recent worldwide success of the two RAID movies.

It includes never-before shown footage of long forgotten action titles, many interviews of cult actors (Barry Prima, George Rudy…) and directors (Imam Tantowi, Ackyl Anwari...) and some unreleased behind-the-scenes footage from newer movies.

But most overall, the documentary captures the spirit of past glorious times, long-forgotten and soon to be lost.

Details

Director: Bastian Meiresonne
Initial release: 2014
Running time: 77 minutes
Country: France
Language: Indonesian with English subtitles

Bastian Meiresonne was born on December 31st 1975 in Germany to Flemish parents, and was later raised in France. Since completing film school in Paris, he has specialized in Asian Cinema, writing for many newspapers and magazines, participating on a dozen collaborative works and publishing a book about Japanese director Imamura Shohei. He is also a consultant for several International Film Festivals and a long-time collaborator for the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (FICA). GARUDA POWER – THE SPIRIT WITHIN is his first feature documentary about Indonesian (Action) Cinema.

Admission

Free and open to the public, no booking required.

Organiser: Centres & Programmes Office

Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4893