The strong buzz surrounding the newest film from the acclaimed director Lucky Kuswandi has been going on since the day it was launched. Released back in June 17th on Netflix, “Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens” is still pretty much all we talk about – thanks to the movie itself, the star-studded casts, and the non-stop creative promotions that have been rolled out by the streaming platform on various social media.
Produced by Palari Film, and written by the great Ginatri S. Noer (“Dua Garis Biru” and “Posesif” stan over here!), this might be a perfect movie that’ll make us reminisce life before the pandemic. We at GAJELAS had an opportunity to interview the mind of ‘Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens’, one and only, Muhammad Zaidy! He is the producer of “Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens” and also have worked together with Gina S. Noer in developing the story concept! By combining two powerful themes: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND FAMILY (which offers a wide array of emotions), Zaidy believes this story could bring new flavors to the film industry that resonate to a lot of people in turn he tuned in to a more commercial approach compared to his previous film production.
The idea of “Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens” was sprung during a Skype meeting between Gina and Zaidy back in 2015 when they were having an interview for Gina’s project. “In my first 5 or 6 months living in New York, I used to live in Queens with an Indonesian land lady and three other female Indonesian housemates from the working-class with distinct and strong personalities. “It is way across my comfort zone but truly a valuable experience.” stated by Zaidy. His colorful yet impactful experience later turned into a launching pad for “Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens” story.
A year after their initial conversations, Zaidy and Gina started to slowly develop a story about four queens from Queens and a kid who comes to New York. Zaidy said that the story evolved throughout the years, then finally he and his team completed the puzzle by creating the character Ali who travels to New York City on a mission to search for his long-lost mother.
In early 2019, they met Lucky Kuswandi, who was instantly chosen to be the director of the movie and in the same year they started writing the script. Ali and RRQ started to shoot on december 2019 in NYC for only 2 weeks :O!!! However the team had to prepare 3 weeks before the shooting day through zoom meetings because the film crew is a mix of Indonesian and American personnel! As Ali and Ratu-Ratu Queens were shot in New York, they all have to abide by the strict rules and regulations set by the filming industry in the US. Compared to Indonesia, they have a strict policy = only allow them to only shoot for 12 hours/day, so everything needs to be very well-planned in order to avoid re-shoots, said Muhammad Zaidy. This is also achieved by letting actors and actresses bond well during meticulously planned rehearsals!
Ali dan RRQ Facts: did you know that most of the scenes in Ali and Ratu-Ratu Queens only took 1 take?! Meaning: one take oke!! It is because of the discipline and never ending rehearsal of the cast and crews before the shoots! hmmmm interesting!
To make a truly authentic story that is set in New York City, Zaidy and Gina had to actually visit the bustling city. While in NYC, Zaidy and team met two out of the four real character inspirations of RRQ and also did some observation to spice up the movie! The observation was a huge success! They came back and one of the many results was the scene where Ali and the Queens were buying some midnight snacks from a halal food card was born wohoooo!
Another challenge that Zaidy and team faced is that they need to fit a lot of the characters’ pivotal stories into the movie. The most complex character in the story is Anche (Played by Tika Panggabean), one of the four queens who struggles in raising her teenage daughter as a single parent. According to Zaidy's perspective, the real-life counterpart of Anche is an even more unique and complex individual. She is a middle-aged woman who was married to an american, turned single parent and has a tendency to hallucinate and believe that she is a secret agent. Zaidy feels like all those characteristics couldn’t fit into a single movie because it will create a very caricatural side of Anche. Therefore Zaidy and Gina decided to make Anche more grounded, and have her character focus on her strive as a single parent who works hard to raise her loving daughter, Eva. If you’ve seen the movie, you can see that Anche is a typical mother who is a little possessive (you can see her reaction towards Ali when he tries to approach Eva) but it's how she shows her love. Let’s just hope for a sitcom continuation to show more sides of Anche and The Queens! It must be very exciting, isn’t it? XD – Netflix Gods and Goddesses, hear our prayers!
Ali dan RRQ Facts: If you listen closely, you can find one of the biggest young American pop artists, yup BILLIE EILISHHHH song,’ I love you’. It is also Zaidy’s most favorite scene hihi.
Queens itself is regarded as another major character in the movie. As the melting pot of immigrants from all over the world, we can say that in reality Queens are the diaspore for lots of ethnicity. Working class immigrants dominate in this area, due to the place being more affordable than other places around NYC. Also, you could smell the eagerness of people living here to achieve their dreams, so we could say that Queens are a perfect and suitable representation of dreams, hope, and (obviously) diversity. Those themes were captured in the scene where Mia first arrived in NYC. She used to live in Queens to pursue her dream to become a singer. Same as Ratu-Ratu Queens, who shows us the definition of every hard work always pays off by successfully achieving their dreams of opening a indonesia cuisine restaurant. Although the setting of the story is far away from home, the movie still has a strong Indonesia flair because Indonesians who have lived their life in Queens love to keep their country authenticity. As stated by Zaidy, “You can take these people out of Indonesia but you cannot take Indonesia out of them.”
Even though everyone might’ve lots of interpretations towards the meaning of the movie, one thing that Lucky, Zaidy, and Gina want to share through Ali and Ratu-Ratu Queens, is that “the true meaning of family can be very universal”. Family is not always defined by blood but a true family is a place you can call home. It is a place that will accept you for who you are - same as the last scene you can find in the movie, where Ali finally finds his home in Queens (But we won’t get into details because that might spoil the movie!).
What’s interesting from the shooting process is that the casts of Ali and RRQ have a really strong bonding session (especially Ali and the Queens! you can see it through their personal Instagram account). As stated by Zaidy, in NYC Ali and all of the queens live together to live life in the shoes of a city-dwelling, working-class, immigrant New Yorker. However Mia (Ali’s Mother) stayed true to her method acting and decided to live in a different place to distance herself from the others because the character Mia lives in an upper-class lifestyle that is way different from the queens.
After Ali & Ratu-ratu Queens Zaidy’s next big project is a new film “Seperti Dendam, Rindu Harus Dibayar Tuntas”. A film adapted from Eka Kurniawan’s popular novel of the same title that will be released in late 2021. Currently, the movie will be competing in the Locarno Film Festival. Let’s wish them tons of luck shall we? XD
To cap this article, Zaidy has a very powerful message to all of the creative writers and creators out there:
“Go out there, dare to experiment. Don’t be afraid to write a script. Short movies are a playground to hone your skill. Make mistakes to learn, but treat every project seriously. The story is the key. Directing is drawn from experiences. Be authentic, find your own voice!”
Now, if you haven’t watched the movie, you know what to do!
“Ali & Ratu-Ratu Queens” is available on Netflix.
Executive Content Writer:
Radia Luthfina N
Co-Writer & Content Editor:
Sesa (Kolaku.co)
Jasmine Surkatty
Creative Team:
Jasmine Surkatty, Art Director
Kharen Chandra, Illustrator
Haimin, Illustrator
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