A captivating story of a woman's multifaceted struggles, Before, Now & Then has touched the hearts of local and global audiences alike. The film won Best Feature Length Film and Best Cinematography at the Festival Film Indonesia 2022. It also earned critical acclaim at the Berlin International Film Festival and, most recently, at Camerimage. This stunning period drama was the result of a close-knit collaboration between director Kamila Andini and DP Batara Goempar ICS.
Before, Now, & Then tells the story of Nana, who, years ago, escaped from an anti-communist purge in Indonesia, leaving her murdered father and presumably dead husband behind. In stark contrast to her past, the film features Nana living a comfortable life after remarrying a plantation owner. However, peace is still out of reach as her turbulent history constantly haunts her in her dreams.
A Before, Now & Then still of protagonist Nana
Unlike Goempar's previous works, such as Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens, Cadet 47, and Perfect Stranger, this slow-burn narrative was uncharted waters for him. Nevertheless, he was eager to take on the challenge. It's a different genre for me, but I like it. It's better when there is diversity, and we should embrace a variety of filmmaking in Indonesia, the DP says.
Replaying how he and Andini planned the look, Goempar explains: When I talked to Kamila, she wanted to add a certain coldness to the film, as if there's always a void. At first, I suggested using desaturated colors as a theme, but she was adamant about still having a stylistic approach.
An early scene from the film: Nana with Mr. Darga and Dais
With this in mind, texture became a major element of the film. We have shots with, and sometimes behind, sheets of Vitrase (Indonesian translucent laced curtains). We added colors through the wardrobe and production design. In the end, despite being a lonely film, the visuals were filled with colors and textures, and this huge contrast added a lot of richness to the look, the award-winning cinematographer continues.
Citing his favorite part of the film, Goempar chose one of the first scenes. At the beginning of the film, there's an excerpt of Nana going through her routine in the house. It sort of builds upon the narrative of how women should stay at home and follow a fixed set of household responsibilities. I love this scene because it subtly dictates how the entire film will proceed, says Goempar. We didn't do a lot of dynamic camera movements, mainly static shots, but each cut, from scene to scene, was edited very carefully with utmost patience. Every shot was slow and cinematic.
DP Batara Goempar with the ALEXA LF and Signature Primes behind the scenes
Another creative decision that was made early on was how the team would handle the dream or hallucination sequences. The film is called Before, Now & Then' because it represents the complexities of a woman's difficult past, present situation, and what she sees in her future. Usually, filmmakers would do separate tones to depict each period, but Kamila wanted the cinematography to merge. We wanted reality, hallucinations, and expectations to flow together naturally, shares Goempar.
When asked about his choice of equipment, he exclaims: Honestly, the only camera and lenses that can fulfill my shooting style are the ALEXA LF and ARRI Signature Primes. That's the reason why I have been using them constantly for almost four years. They feel like home. Not to mention, it's always a good investment for the producers to shoot large format for the future.
DP Batara Goempar with director Kamila Andini shooting an outdoor scene
I can always get more immersive images with the ALEXA LF and a softer look with Signature Primes. It feels like a magnifying glass. I can see up close and capture the actors' emotions and nuances, but there is still a decent distance between us. Even in silence, you can see Nana's expression and body language. Happy Salma, the actress who plays Nana, started in theatre, and she's very expressive with her gestures, Goempar adds.
As for the Signature Prime's focal length, Goempar prefers to work with fewer lenses than most, limiting his choice to only the middle range, usually between 35 mm and 75 mm. I'm not a fan of switching lenses too often, he explains. As an audience, when you watch these types of films, you don't want to be distracted by the frequent lens change. The main focus is not on the technical composition but on the story we want to tell.
Before, Now & Then is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Related Products ALEXA LF Large format, high speed, fully featured
ARRI Signature Prime Modern Lens. Timeless Look.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
A captivating story of a woman's multifaceted struggles, Before, Now & Then has touched the hearts of local and global audiences alike. The film won Best Feature Length Film and Best Cinematography at the Festival Film Indonesia 2022. It also earned critical acclaim at the Berlin International Film Festival and, most recently, at Camerimage. This stunning period drama was the result of a close-knit collaboration between director Kamila Andini and DP Batara Goempar ICS. 
