Indonesian Cinema for a Cause

A Piece of Indonesian Cinema History Was Just Auctioned for a Cause

Twenty years after Berbagi Suami first challenged Indonesian audiences to confront the complicated realities of polygamy, an original piece of the film’s history has found a new purpose. The handwritten history may be gone from the filmmaker’s archive, but its value has now been redirected toward people facing a very different kind of hardship.

As reported by CNN Indonesia on August 26, the original script of Nia Dinata’s 2006 film Berbagi Suami was auctioned for Rp15 million, with the proceeds going toward relief efforts for victims of the recent earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The auction took place during a special screening of the original film and a sneak peek of the forthcoming Berbagi Suami 2.0 at the “Celebrating Independence Through Cinema” event on August 23. CNN Indonesia’s report on the Berbagi Suami script auction

The script was not the only item offered. Clothing contributed another Rp2.5 million, while organisers donated 20 percent of ticket sales, worth Rp843,000. Together, the activities raised Rp18.343 million, which will be distributed through Kun Humanity System+ to support communities affected by the earthquake.

There is something particularly fitting about a film script becoming part of a charitable effort. Berbagi Suami is widely regarded as one of Indonesian cinema’s landmark films, not least because of the way it examined polygamy through the experiences of women rather than treating the subject simply as a matter of social or religious debate. Told through three interconnected stories, the film followed women from different generations, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic circumstances, exploring the emotional compromises and inequalities within their marriages.

Jajang C. Noer, Shanty and Dominique Agisca Diyose led the original cast as Salma, Siti and Ming, three women whose stories offered distinctly different perspectives on the same complicated institution.

Now, two decades later, Dinata is returning to the subject with Berbagi Suami 2.0. The new film retains polygamy as its connecting thread but shifts its attention toward contemporary family dynamics, infidelity, emotional wounds and the unequal relationships that can exist between partners, parents and children.

According to Dinata, the new film is not intended as a judgment of its characters. Instead, it aims to examine the consequences of relationships and social expectations that are often hidden, minimised or normalised.

The continuation also brings back several members of the original creative team, including producer Melissa Karim, music director Aghni Narottama and cinematographer Ipung Rachmat Syaiful. The new ensemble includes Morgan Oey, Jihane Almira, Rory Asyari, Tara Basro, Aming and Ferry Salim, among others.

Berbagi Suami 2.0 is scheduled for release in early 2027.

In the meantime, the original script has already begun its own second life. Once a working document created to bring a film to the screen, it has become a piece of Indonesian cinematic history, and, perhaps more meaningfully, a contribution toward helping people rebuild their lives after disaster.