FAQ (Tanya-Jawab)

1. What was the objective of making The Mirror Never Lies?
The Mirror Never Lies is aimed to bring the valuable beauty and rich culture of Indonesia in Coral Triangle to the world. One of the cultural heritage  that has not yet been well acknowledged is the unique Bajau tribe, the sea dwellers who spread in not only the six countries of the Coral Triangle but also in the adjacent countries such as Australia. Bajaus live on the water and their every single livelihood depends on the sea. Bajau people are known as sea gypsies.

2. What doesThe Mirror Never Lies tell us?
The Mirror Never Lies tell about a young Bajonese girl named Pakis who is striving for searching his father who lost at the sea. Pakis's father is a fisherman, and as any Bajonese man, Pakis's father left for the ocean in search for fish to feed his family. Pakis's father has not yet come home.

In the Bajau tribe itself, there is a ritual that one can seek lost people through the power of a mirror. Pakis hopes that the mirror will tell her where father is.

On the other hand, Pakis' mother is more of a pesimistic and realistic. As a single mother in a hard and tough environment, she constantly has different opinion with her daughter, Pakis. As the conflict emeges, , a dolphin research scientist (Tudo) comes into their life.

3. Who produces The Mirror Never Lies?
This movie is a collaboration of Wakatobi government, WWF-Indonesia, and SET Film Workshop.

4. Who are the main cast of the film?
Gita playing as Pakis, the Bajonese Girl from Wakatobi. Along with Eko and Inal who play the roles of her bestfriends (Lumo and Kutta), this trio showtheir lives as Bajonese kids in Wakatobi. Tayung, Pakis' mother, is played by Atiqah Hasiholan. Whereas Tudo, the young dolphin researcher, is perfectly brought to live by the award-winning actor, Reza Rahadian.

5. Where does the Movie take place?
The shooting took place in Wakatobi, a part of The Coral Triangle. Wakatobi is a district located in South East Sulawesi, of which was officially established in 2003. The name Wakatobi itself is an acronym of 4 major islands in the region, which are Wangiwangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. As a part of The Coral Triangle, Wakatobiis a home to 750 out of 850 world's coral species. Wakatobi's 1.390 million hectares of islands and waters were declared a National Park in 1996.

Coral Triangle refers to a roughly triangular area of the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Phillipines, Solomon islands, and Timor Leste.
Its  worldrichest marine biodiversitieshas made it become the nursery of the sea. Many species come to Coral Triangle to breed, give birth, and grow during their first initial stage of life, before they migrate around the world.

6. What are the challenges during the making of this film?
One of the main challenges we face is the unpredictable weather.  At first, we planed to have the shooting on April-May 2010 which is supposed to be the beginning of dry season and the ideal time to visit Wakatobi. However, in 2010, Indonesia had longer rainy season. It was raining almost all year long and we had to reschedule the shooting to September-October 2010 even though it was still raining most of the time. Change of schedule is a common thing and we had to adapt with the weather. Whenever there wass enough sun light, we took as many scenes as possible to finish our film production.

The other unforgettable experience is walking the bamboo walkways and wooden bridges– which are commonly used in Bajo villages.
Therefore, all crews and talents must be skillful in keeping their balance. Sometimes, we even had to stand in the water (knee –high) to get a good shot.

7. How long does it take to make this movie?
The shooting took 3 months to finish, 2 months of the actual shoot and 1 month for the preparation, but the survey and research for this movie took almost 3 years.

8. What is one of the most remembered word in Bajonese language?
Bajonese motto is"Di lao' denakangKu' which means "The sea is my brother." It is where we live, where we work, and where we always come back in happiness or sadness. The sea is the source of our needs.

9. What can we learn from the movie?
We hope that through this movie, the audiences will recognize the beauty of Indonesiawhich needs to be preserved through out the generations. It reminds us of the challenges and difficulties faced by the people living in the coastal area and whose lives fully depend on the marine resources. Nonetheless, the earth is round and everything is connected to each other. This movie encourages us to think more critical about how our way of life can give impact to the environment. Therefore, collective awareness and concern are needed to create better environment.

10. What is the next plan for The Mirror Never Lies?
We are trying our best to bring this film to a wider audience outside Indonesia, so there will be more and more people see the wonderful part of Indonesia other than Bali.