Busan Competition Title ’24 Hours With Gaspar’ Unveils First Trailer

A first trailer has been unveiled for Indonesian filmmaker Yosep Anggi Noen’s “24 Hours With Gaspar.” 

The film will world premiere at the Busan Film Festival where it is in the prestigious Jiseok competition. Set in 2032 and based on the novel of the same name by Indonesian author Sabda Armandio, the film follows Gaspar, a private detective with 24 hours to live, who finds clues about the mysterious disappearance of Kirana, his childhood friend. The clues lead to a human trafficking syndicate.

“24 Hours With Gaspar” features a stellar Indonesian cast including Reza Rahadian (“Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash”), Shenina Cinnamon (“Dear David”), Laura Basuki (“Before Now And Then”), Kristo Imanuell (“Big Four”), Sal Priadi (“Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash”), Dewi Irawan (“Anwar: The Untold Story”) and Iswadi Pratama.

The film is a collaboration between KawanKawan Media, Visinema and Legacy Pictures and produced by Yulia Evina Bhara for KawanKawan Media and Cristian Imanuell for Visinema Pictures.

Noen and KawanKawan previously teamed on “The Science of Fictions” (2019), which premiered at Locarno where it won a special mention and subsequently played at Busan. Teoh Gay Hian, who shot “The Science of Fictions,” returns for “24 Hours With Gaspar.”

KawanKawan has a glittering track record. Amanda Nell Eu’s “Tiger Stripes” won at Cannes this year; Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” (2022), which is Indonesia’s Oscar entry this year, has won major awards around the world including at Venice, Marrakech and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards; wins at Locarno also include for Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Whether the Weather Is Fine” (2021) and Ming Jin Woo’s “Stone Turtle” (2022); and at CPH:DOX for Fanny Chotimah’s documentary “You and I” in 2020. Amanda Nell Eu’s “Last Shadow at First Light” premiered at San Sebastian where it is in the running for the New Directors Award.

The company has Mubarak’s “Watch It Burn” at Busan’s Asian Project Market. Earlier this year, Bhara was named as one of Variety’s Impactful International Women of 2023.

At Busan, Visinema also has Sidharta Tata’s “Ali Topan.”

Noen said: “As an artist, I embark on artistic explorations. For me, these explorations serve two primary purposes: firstly, they offer fresh and distinctive experiences in navigating the world of cinema; secondly, they provoke critical contemplation regarding the global state of affairs. ’24 Hours With Gaspar’ is set in a future that isn’t necessarily bright, yet it retains a glimmer of hope. I depict a mismanaged society and a continuously suppressed society in a film saturated with violence, the gritty texture of a decaying city, characters painted in shades beyond the conventional dichotomy of good and evil (where their roles as protagonists or antagonists are ambiguously intertwined) and street fights.”

Bhara added: “Set in a dystopian world in Indonesia in 2032, ‘24 Hours With Gaspar’ is mixed with action scenes, fighting, car chasing, car accidents and other flashy elements that were never done in KawanKawan Media’s previous films. The collaboration with Visinema is a perfect match, given Visinema’s experience in this genre.”

Imanuell said: “As we know, Korea is one of the pillars of Asian cinema, opening up significant opportunities for Indonesian films to compete on a global scale, We are deeply honored because ’24 Hours with Gaspar’ has turned out to be the first Indonesian film selected to compete for the Jiseok Award at Busan.”

Watch the trailer here: