text: jamila dan sang presiden jamila and the president ( indonesian : jamila dan sang presiden ) is a 2009 indonesian film directed by ratna sarumpaet and starring atiqah hasiholan and christine hakim . it follows the story of a prostitute sentenced to death for killing a government minister . the film was adapted from a stage play entitled pelacur dan sang presiden ( the prostitute and the president ) , which sarumpaet had written after receiving a grant from unicef to study child trafficking trends in indonesia and promote awareness of the problem . in preparing the script , she spent several months interviewing prostitutes in several cities ; the film itself spent three years in production and featured much of the same cast and crew as the original play . released on 30 april 2009 , the film received mixed to positive reception in indonesia . internationally the film featured in several film festivals and won awards in france , italy , and taiwan . it was submitted to the 82nd academy awards for best foreign language film , but not nominated . plot jamila and the president opens with narration from jamila ( atiqah hasiholan ) , a victim of human trafficking , followed by several scenes showing her living a glamorous yet unfulfilling night life . after hearing a news report that a government minister , nurdin ( adjie pangestu ) , has been murdered , jamila surrenders herself to the police . this surprises her would - be boyfriend , ibrahim ( dwi sasono ) , who feels badly for jamila and begins working towards freeing her . under the orders of the president , jamila is placed in a prison outside jakarta , where she receives rough treatment at the hands of the guards and warden , ria ( christine hakim ) . in the prison , ria reads jamila 's diary and learns her backstory . jamila was sold by her mother to a middleman , who then sold her to a rich family . while living with the family , jamila is raped by both the father and son in succession ; jamila kills the son and runs away , while the mother ( jajang c. noer ) , aware of their actions , kills her husband . jamila becomes a worker at a market , but once again must escape when she learns that some local men plan to rape her . she escapes to a discothèque , and when it is raided by the police she is thought to be a prostitute and arrested . after being released , jamila is raised by a kind - hearted prostitute named susi ( ria irawan ) , who was also caught in the raid . in the present day , several groups are demanding that jamila be given the death sentence . one male guard , ( surya ) , takes pity on jamila and tries to help her . however , jamila ignores him . ria , although slowly becoming more sympathetic to jamila , gets into an argument with her over nurdin 's murder ; this results in jamila being placed in isolation . several days later , the court finds jamila guilty of murder and sentences her to death , a sentence which will be carried out in 36 hours . ria visits jamila in her cell to check on her , and ria explains that she intends to ask the president for a stay . jamila refuses , then tells ria about her experience looking for her sister fatimah in borneo , how she killed the man who had put fatimah in a brothel but was unable to find her sister . the day before jamila 's execution , ibrahim meets with susi , who tells him about jamila 's romantic involvement with nurdin . jamila became pregnant with nurdin 's child and insisted that he take responsibility , but instead nurdin told her he was marrying someone else and humiliated her in public . when the two met in a hotel , nurdin threatened jamila with a pistol ; in self - defence , jamila killed him with the pistol . in the modern day , jamila walks towards her execution ; the president has not responded to the request for stay . the screen fades to black as a gunshot goes off , and afterwards , statistics about child trafficking and prostitution are shown . production jamila and the president was directed by ratna sarumpaet , a women 's rights activist . the film , sarumpaet 's directorial debut , was based on a theatrical drama she had previously made entitled pelacur dan sang presiden ( the prostitute and the president ) , which was put on in 2006 in five cities by satu merah panggung theatre troup . she was inspired write the story in 2005 after unicef approached her to do a survey of child trafficking in southeast asia and promote awareness of the problem . while writing the original script , sarumpaet interviewed prostitutes in surabaya , surakarta , garut , and borneo over a period of six months . this research carried over into the film . sarumpaet cast her daughter , atiqah hasiholan , in the lead role . initially hasiholan viewed her character as a " regular slutty prostitute " , but after thinking of the character more thoroughly , she considered jamila a " victim of life " . to better play her character , hasiholan visited several prostitution districts and spoke with sex workers there , learning their motivations ; she drew the conclusion that poverty was a deciding factor . senior actress christine hakim – a close friend of sarumpaet 's – was cast as ria ; it was her first antagonistic role . sarumpaet 's brother sam was assistant director , and helped calm his sister when technical glitches occurred . much of the cast and crew , including star hasiholan , had previously acted in the stage play . sarumpaet reported that the film cost billion ( us $ 800 , 000 ) to produce ; she originally had difficulty finding sponsors . the film spent three years in production . themes sarumpaet described the film as being " about how awful the effect of poverty on human ’ s morality and lives is " ; in an interview with tempo magazine , she stated that she did not have a political message , but intended to just show the facts . yazid , in a review for the jakarta post , wrote that the film was of the " women - who - suffer - continuously " genre , common in indonesian cinema ; he compared the theme to ponirah terpidana ( ponirah is convicted ; 1984 ) , starring hakim and slamet rahardjo . s. , also writing for the jakarta post , described the film as depicting " the grim reality of those whose existence [ viewers ] are rarely aware of : victims of child and women trafficking . " style the majority of the film takes place inside the prison . a review for the jakarta globe notes that the film has a " spartan feel " , as supported by its cinematography . it uses periods of silence to evoke an emotional response from viewers , with flashbacks used to drive the story . the president is never shown ; instead , he is represented by long shots of merdeka palace , a presidential residence in jakarta . release and reception jamila and the president was originally intended to be released on 10 december 2007 , in commemoration of human rights day . however , due to production difficulties it was delayed for almost two years . the film premiered at fx plaza in jakarta on 27 april 2009 , with a wide release three days later . it received mixed reception . yazid wrote that the film was " easily one of the most noteworthy indonesian films in recent years " and praised hakim 's acting ; however , he found hasiholan 's acting overly theatrical . a review for the jakarta globe described the film as " engaging because of its dramatic subject and well - measured pace " , but ultimately leaving the audience with unanswered questions due to the number of characters introduced . marcel thee and armando siahaan , writing in the same newspaper in december 2009 , selected jamila and the president as the best indonesian film of 2009 , noting that the titular character 's struggle " provides an emotional roller - coaster ride . " , writing for tempo , stated the film came across as without a climax , with hasiholan 's acting at times overly theatrical and hakim 's coming across flat . eko sofyan , reviewing for kompas , wrote that the film reminded viewers that poverty and prostitution were still major issues , and had to be dealt with before indonesia could further develop . in indonesia , jamila and the president was nominated for several awards . at the 2009 indonesian film festival , the film received six nominations , for best picture , best director , best adapted screenplay , best editing , best sound arrangement , and best artistic arrangement ; it did not win any . internationally , jamila and the president was screened at several film festivals , including in bangkok , hong kong , and australia ; at the asiatica film in rome , it won a award . it later won an award for best editing at the 53rd asia pacific film festival in taipei , taiwan . jamila and the president was chosen by the indonesian filmmakers and television association to represent indonesia at the 82nd academy awards for best foreign language film . however , the film was not nominated . at the vesoul international film festival of asian cinema in vesoul , france , jamila and the president won two awards , the prix de public and prix jury ; according to the jakarta post , the film shocked young french audiences unused to child trafficking , a common subject in southeast asian cinema .