Salman Aristo
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Salman Aristo (born 1976) is an Indonesian
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
and film director best known for his work on '' Ayat-Ayat Cinta'', '' Laskar Pelangi'', '' Garuda di Dadaku'', and '' Sang Penari''. Born in Jakarta, Aristo became interested in films from a young age, though he did not consider a career in the industry until after graduating from university. At the suggestion of a friend, he wrote his first screenplay, ''Tak Pernah Kembali Sama''. With feedback on the script from director Rudy Soedjarwo and after a period reading old, successful scripts, Aristo – at the time a film reviewer for a magazine – was able to befriend
Hanung Bramantyo Setiawan Hanung Bramantyo (born 1 October 1975) is an Indonesian director known for his films ranging from teen romances to religious dramas. After becoming interested in theatre as a child, Bramantyo made his directorial debut with the 1998 sho ...
, who asked him to write a script about brownies. The resulting film, a critical success, led to Aristo receiving numerous requests for screenplays, including several adaptations of novels. In 2010, he released his directorial debut, ''Jakarta Maghrib''. Aristo, who is married to fellow screenwriter Gina S. Noer, is influenced by several Western and Indonesian screenwriters, including
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
,
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
,
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...
,
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...
, Arifin C. Noer, and
Asrul Sani Asrul Sani (10 June 1926 – 11 January 2004) was an Indonesian writer, poet and screenwriter. Biography Sani was born in Rao, West Sumatra on 10 June 1926. His father was Sultan Marah Sani Syair Alamsyah. Together with Chairil Anwar and Ri ...
. He has been nominated for three Citra Awards for screenwriting, although he has yet to win.


Biography


Early life and career

Aristo was born in
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
in 1976. As a child, he became interested in film when he and his family went to the movie theatre together; in an interview with ''Tabloid Nova'', he recalled that one of the first films he saw was a comedy starring Warkop. After beginning junior high school in 1988, he began to go to the theatres to watch films on his own. Despite his enjoyment of film, he was initially active in an indie band. After senior high school, Aristo studied journalism at Padjadjaran University in
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
, from which he graduated in 1999. While in university, he stayed active in the indie music scene with his band Silentium. After graduation he worked in journalism for a while before drifting to filmmaking upon the suggestion of Dedi Rakswaradana, later guitarist for the band Naff. Several months later, after moving back to Jakarta Aristo's first screenplay, a 90-page work titled ''Tak Pernah Kembali Sama'' (''Never Been the Same Again''), was read by director Rudy Soedjarwo. Soedjarwo gave the film several critiques, which drove Aristo to improve his writing. To do so, beginning in 2002 Aristo began regularly going to Usmar Ismail Film Documentation Center in Kuningan, Jakarta, to read screenplays. Among the works he read were several by
Asrul Sani Asrul Sani (10 June 1926 – 11 January 2004) was an Indonesian writer, poet and screenwriter. Biography Sani was born in Rao, West Sumatra on 10 June 1926. His father was Sultan Marah Sani Syair Alamsyah. Together with Chairil Anwar and Ri ...
, which he found highly useful; he later recalled that the script for ''Kejarlah Daku Kau Kutangkap'' (''Chase Me, I'll Catch You'') was one of the best. In the meantime, he took a job as a film reviewer for a local music magazine, which gave him greater access to the industry.


Success and later career

At a seminar, Aristo met director
Hanung Bramantyo Setiawan Hanung Bramantyo (born 1 October 1975) is an Indonesian director known for his films ranging from teen romances to religious dramas. After becoming interested in theatre as a child, Bramantyo made his directorial debut with the 1998 sho ...
and showed him one of his screenplays. Bramantyo, who liked what he saw, asked Aristo to write a screenplay for a new film he was working on with Leo Sutanto of SinemArt. The resulting work, written after intensive research into the production of brownies and titled after the snack, was released in 2004. It garnered a Citra Award for Best Director at the
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 Culture to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. Dur ...
for Bramantyo and a nomination for best original screenplay for Aristo. While ''Brownies'' was in production, Aristo wrote four other screenplays, for ''Catatan Akhir Sekolah'' (''Notes from the End of School''), ''Cinta Silver'' (''Silver Love''), ''Jomblo'' (''Single''), and ''
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
''. All of these were made into films between 2005 and 2006. After these successes, at the end of 2006 Bramantyo asked Aristo and his wife, screenwriter Gina S. Noer, to adapt the novel ''Ayat-Ayat Cinta'' (''Verses of Love'') by Habiburrahman El Shirazy, into a film. The resulting work, also entitled '' Ayat-Ayat Cinta'', was highly successful. This was followed by ''Karma'' (2007), and ''Kambing Jantan: The Movie'' (2008). In 2008, Aristo wrote a
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of Andrea Hirata's 2005 novel ''Laskar Pelangi'' (''Rainbow Troops'') after being asked by the film's producer,
Mira Lesmana Mira Lesmanawati or better known as Mira Lesmana (born in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 8, 1964) is an Indonesian film director, Film producer, producer, and songwriter of mixed Dutch people, Dutch, Javanese people, Javanese, and Madurese people, ...
. The film, directed by
Riri Riza Mohammad Rivai "Riri" Riza (born October 2, 1970) is an Indonesian film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter, writer. He is notable for his directorial work on ''Petualangan Sherina'' (''Sherina's Adventure''; 2000), ''Gie'' (2005) ...
, was a critical and commercial success. He soon wrote another screenplay, for ''Garuda di Dadaku'' (''Garuda on my Chest''; 2009) upon request of producer Shanty Harmayn. The film, directed by Ifa Isfansyah, reportedly sold 1.2 million tickets, a large number for the Indonesian film industry. Aristo joined
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in September 2009 as a way to promote his films. That year, his short film ''Pasangan Baru'' (''New Partners'') was screened at the Balinale Film Festival in Sanur,
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
. He also wrote ''Sang Pemimpi'' (''The Dreamers''), a film adaptation of the sequel to ''Laskar Pelangi''. In 2010 he joined the online
flash fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ...
Twitter community Fiksimini. His works, written in under 140 characters, were well received, and he soon became a moderator. That same year, Aristo was a juror at the
Asia Pacific Screen Awards The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting a ...
, held in
Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...
, Australia. He also wrote the screenplay for ''Hari Untuk Amanda'' with Gina S. Noer (''Days for Amanda''), which earned a Citra Award nomination at the 2010
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 Culture to celebrate cinematic achievements in the Indonesian film industry. Dur ...
. He made his feature film directorial debut that year with ''Jakarta Maghrib'' (''Jakarta at Maghrib''), which details several families in the minutes before Maghrib prayers and how the
call to prayer A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the History of telecommunication, earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across gre ...
stops their daily activities. It premiered at the Jakarta International Film Festival. In March 2011, Aristo published ''Politweet'', an illustrated collection of flash fiction mostly dealing with politics. That same year, he cowrote the screenplay for '' Sang Penari'' (''The Dancer'') with Ifa Isfansyah and Shanty Harmayn; the work was an adaptation of Ahmad Tohari's trilogy ''Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk'' (''The Ronggeng of Paruk Village''). The trio were nominated for Best Screenplay at that year's Indonesian Film Festival. Later that year, he wrote ''Lima Elang'' (''Five Eagles''), a film directed by Rudy Soedjarwo. Focusing on five young children at camp, it was one of the first local films in decades to use
Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
as a central theme. Another film, ''Garuda di Dadaku 2'' followed in December. , he and Noer have two children. Aristo wrote a television adaptation of ''Laskar Pelangi'' in late 2011. Directed by Guntur Soeharjanto, the series starred five youths from Bangka-Belitung and was shown in early 2012. Later in 2012, Aristo adapted Ahmad Fuadi's novel '' Negeri 5 Menara'' (''The Land of Five Towers'') into a film of the same name. Directed by Affandi Abdul Rachman, the film also featured Aristo as a producer.


Influences

In an interview with ''
The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media ...
'', Aristo called
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...
a large inspiration; he said that he really enjoyed Curtis' film '' The Girl in the Café'' (2005). He also cited
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
,
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...
and
Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...
as further influences. His experience in journalism may have influenced his directing style.


Filmography

As writer unless specified. * ''Brownies'' (2004) * ''Catatan Akhir Sekolah'' (''Notes from the End of School''; 2005) * ''Cinta Silver'' (''Silver Love''; 2005) * ''
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
'' (2007) * ''Jomblo'' (''Single''; 2007) * '' Ayat-Ayat Cinta'' (''Verses of Love''; 2007) * ''Karma'' (2008) * '' Laskar Pelangi'' (''Rainbow Troops''; 2008) * ''Kambing Jantan: The Movie'' (2008) * ''Sang Pemimpi'' (''The Dreamers''; 2009) * ''Garuda di Dadaku'' (''Garuda on my Chest''; 2009) * ''Pasangan Baru'' (''New Partners''; 2010; short film; as director) * ''Hari Untuk Amanda'' (''Days for Amanda''; 2010) * ''Jakarta Maghrib'' (''Jakarta at Maghrib''; 2010; as director) * '' Sang Penari'' (''The Dancer''; 2011) * ''Lima Elang'' (''Five Eagles''; 2011) * ''Garuda di Dadaku 2'' (''Garuda on my Chest 2''; 2011) * ''Negeri 5 Menara'' (''Land of Five Towers''; 2012; as writer and producer) *'' Yasmine'' (2014, Brunei) * "Satu Hari Nanti" ("Maybe Someday"; 2017; as director)


References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aristo, Salman 1976 births Living people Mass media people from Jakarta Indonesian screenwriters Padjadjaran University alumni