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The tragic yet inspiring story of a group of friends, all young and idealistic political activists who faced the iron fist of power in the waning days of the Suharto regime, in the late 1990s. In the twilight hours of a day in March, Biru Laut was ambushed by four unknown men. Together with his friends, Daniel, Sunu and Alex, he was taken to an unknown location. For months they were held captive, interrogated, beaten and tortured into answering one sole question: Who stood behind the rebellious student movements at that time? Biru Laut’s younger sister, who, along with other family members of kidnapped student activists, struggled to put the pieces of the puzzle together and to find answers to their never-ending questions. While her parents appear to be in denial and remain hopeful that Biru Laut will one day come back to sit at the family table again, Asmara Jati engages alongside the Missing Persons Commission Team led by Aswin Pradana in order to strive to find traces of those who went missing and to record the testimonies of those who returned. This stirring story of Biru Laut and his friends is the story of the desaparecidos of Indonesia. It is the story of a momentous—and still seldom written about—period of Indonesian history that led to the end of dictatorship in Indonesia.

Magi Diela diculik dan dijinakkan seperti binatang. Sirna sudah impiannya membangun Sumba. Kini dia harus melawan orangtua, seisi kampung, dan adat yang ingin merenggut kemerdekaannya sebagai perempuan. Ketika budaya memenjarakan hati Magi yang meronta, dia harus memilih sendiri nerakanya: meninggalkan orangtua dan tanah kelahirannya, menyerahkan diri kepada si mata keranjang, atau mencurangi kematiannya sendiri. Perempuan yang Menangis kepada Bulan Hitam ditulis berdasarkan pengalaman banyak perempuan korban kawin tangkap di Sumba. Tradisi kawin tangkap menggedor hati Dian Purnomo untuk menyuarakan jerit perempuan yang seolah tak terdengar bahkan oleh Tuhan sekalipun.

Marni is an illiterate Javanese woman who still practices ancestor worship. Through her offerings she finds her gods and puts forth her hopes. She knows nothing of the God brought in from that faraway land. Rahayu is Marni’s daughter, part of a new generation shaped by education and an easier life. She is a firm believer in God and in common sense. She stands against the ancestors, even against her own mother. To Marni, Rahayu is a soulless being. And to Rahayu, Marni is a sinner. Each lives according to her own creed, with nothing in common. Then come the sounds of the jackboots, constantly disrupting and destroying souls. They are the ones with the authority, the ones who play with power as they desire. They are the ones who can turn the skies and the fields red, and blood yellow, their guns ready to strike anywhere. Marni and Rahayu, these women from two generations who have never understood each other, finally find something in their lives that they agree on. Both are victims of those in power. Both fight against the guns.