Synopsis: After his mother s death, Jaya (12) is sent to his father, Johar, who works as a supervisor on a jermal (a fishing platform perched on log stilts in the middle of the sea). Johar is shocked, never knowing he has a son, and rejects the boy as his kin. Fully aware he can t bring Jaya back to land due to a dark past, Johar is forced to accept the boy as a worker on the site. Faced with constant rejection from his father and relentless bullying by the other boys who work on the jermal, Jaya decides to take fate into his own hands. He gives up hope on being accepted and learns the skills and attitude needed to survive on the jermal. Jaya increasingly becomes like the other boys: a tough, rough survivor; while Johar is forced to gradually face and accept his past. Eventually, both Johar and Jaya learn that they are bound by their past, united by the space in which they move, and connected by the inescapable truth. In the beginning, they meet as strangers; in the end, they leave as father and Son.

Review: I really enjoy foreign and independant film.  I'm not sure that I've ever seen an Indonesian film before Jermal.   This film is about a boy that is trying to fit into his new environment, only to be rejected time and again.  Until the boy shows that he is an intense survivor, he finally learns to accept himself and his past.  The film is not only emotional and moving, but its a great story of the coming of age of a young man.  I highly recommend it.

Rating: Independant Films, Foreign Films