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Damien Dematra, the man behind the new film about Barack Obama’s years in Jakarta, “Obama Anak Menteng” (“Obama the Menteng Kid”) isn’t too keen on talking about how old he is or where he’s from. But the busy author, painter, photographer, novelist and filmmaker is more than happy to discuss his newest project, a film that he plans to release to coincide with Obama’s visit to Indonesia next month.

Would you pay money to watch a movie that took only five days to write?

Yes. It must be incredible, it must be extraordinary if it was done so quickly. But I wrote the novel in four days, after a month of research. It’s 220 pages and I interviewed 30 people. It took two or three weeks and four rewrites to finish the script.

Would you say that the script is historically accurate?

This is a movie based on true events. We try to combine fact and fiction because in some areas there is just no information at all. For some parts I’m just trying to connect the dots.

You’re filming in Bandung. Why not shoot the film in Menteng?

Menteng has changed a lot. It’s quite modern these days. It’s been 40 years. We decided to go to Bandung because it looks like Menteng in the ’70s.

Are you originally from Jakarta?

I don’t discuss my date of birth or where I’m from for spiritual reasons, but I live in Jakarta. I spend a lot of time in Bali and Yogyakarta, as well.

Do you honestly think this movie will be in theaters by June 17?

Yes. We’re shooting until June 3 and then the editing guys will go to Bangkok and be back on June 15. On June 17 it will be on the screen.

Do you know when Obama is coming to Indonesia?

Between the June 13 and June 19, according to my sources.

Is the movie going to show Obama prostrating or praying?

We haven’t decided. That part comes from the novel. It comes from real sources. There’s another funny story about that. Once when Obama was going to pray his sarong suddenly fell off. The stories come from his friends.

So do you want to make a movie about Obama’s childhood in Menteng or a movie about him praying toward Mecca?

The main point of the movie is cultural diplomacy. The movie’s about tolerance and dreams, not Obama praying.

Didn’t Obama go to Catholic school?

Yes he did. I’m about to launch another book regarding that period, “Obama from Asisi.” It’s the prequel to “Obama Anak Menteng.” We’re launching that in the first week of June.

Is there such a thing as bad publicity?

There’s no good or bad publicity, there is only publicity.

If you were Obama, would you want to see the movie?

If I were him I would like to watch the movie. It’s part of my background, my past. I went to Catholic school, I went to state school. When he was at Asisi he went to church, and when he was with his friends he went to pray with them. It’s normal. That’s one of the reasons we believe he’s the icon of pluralism.

You’ve published books under other names, like Mark Andrew. Any reason for that?

I was so creative at the time I didn’t think that my publisher would want to publish books under the same name, but they said they did. I have an agreement to publish 45 books over the next year. That’s like a book every 10 days.

Is the movie going to be in all the major theaters in the city?

It will be in 60 main theaters. We’re looking for national distribution. We have subtitles and the movie is in Bahasa Indonesia and some in English.

What’s your next venture?

I’m going to Hollywood. I got an offer. Some of my books were written in English. All I need is a good editor.

How old is the actor playing Barry?

He’s 12 and looks like Obama when he was here. His English is good, his Bahasa is not that good, so that makes it perfect.

In some photos online you can see Obama on the back of a bike with a male nanny. Did Obama have a male nanny?

It’s his maid. He was transgender. He’s gone missing. We held a contest, “Finding Turdi,” but no one could find him. Nobody knows where he is.

What are the most fictional and factual elements of the movie?

The most fictional part is the football game. It’s a dramatization. The most factual is Slamat, the main character in the book. He’s friends with Barry and he has a hunch he will be famous so he uses all his money to get a photographer to take a picture of him and Barry. The photographer says he wants Rp 50, but Slamat doesn’t have it, so the photographer tells him to give him Rp 25 now and Rp 25 when he brings Slamat the picture. A few days later Barry went to Hawaii, and he never saw the photographer again. Slamat, doesn’t trust photographers to this day. When he got to the set the first thing he did was ask if he could get his picture taken with the actor playing Barry.



Damien Demantra was talking to Zack Petersen.