Film My Heart Indonesian Movie Is Set

Those in Vietnam for example, might know more about France than Thailand.

Raya is the titular character of Raya and the Last Dragon, which sees her travel around the region to reunite its people and attempt to save the world in the process.

But aside from bearing the weight of humanity on her shoulders - shes got another burden to bear.

South East Asia is a region that is home to 11 countries and 673 million people.

Film My Heart Indonesian Movie Is Set

There are dozens, if not hundreds of different cultures in this region, which begs the question - what exactly is a South East Asian identity and can Disneys latest heroine really embody it Silat and salakots The movie is set in Kumandra - a fantasy land thats home to five tribes - each of which has its own distinct culture, inspired by different places in South East Asia.

Director Don Hall told the BBC the decision to film in the region was inspired by a trip the filmmaking team took there.

The film doesnt take place in todays timeline, but rather imagines what the region might have looked like thousands of years ago.

Raya wears a hat that looks like the Salakot - a traditional headgear in the Philippines.

And her fighting technique is inspired by Silat - a traditional martial arts form practiced commonly in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Producer Osnat Shurer said they tried to look at what are the underlying ideas that are shared.

What is a South East Asian identity Some online complain that the movie is essentially picking and choosing bits and pieces from different cultures in the region and throwing it together into one film.

But Malaysian-born Adele Lim, who is the co-scriptwriter for the movie, says it goes deeper.

When you talk about cultural inspiration, it wasnt just like Oh, we like how this looks, so we put it in.

For example the scene where Rayas father is making her soup - you know, as South East Asians, so much of our love is shown to us through food.so that was something that really touched me.

One Indonesian Twitter user told the BBC however, that she felt it was impossible to represent all of South East Asia, and felt the movie should have just focused on a certain culture in particular.

But the filmmakers say that the movie is simply inspired by the region - and was never meant to focus in on just one culture or country.

I equate it to how the Arthurian legends were built on dramatic European tales.

So this is our opportunity to create a wholly original story, but have its DNA be from somewhere thats real.

We dont want to tell a story where the bad guys are from Thailand and the good guys are from Malaysia.

He pointed out that the colonisation of the region also added to the different cultural lenses each country is shaped by.

Vietnam, for example, was colonised by the French, and Indonesia by the Dutch.

I think the history of colonialism has to a certain extent shaped the way we look at ourselves and what cultures we aspire to be more like, and who we identify as, he said.

I suspect some in South East Asia will know less about their regional counterparts than their colonisers.

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