Anya Zen Read History Books Before Playing in Lobang Buaya

Anya Zen turned to history books before stepping into the role of Ningsih, a ronggeng singer in Hanung Bramantyo’s fictional horror mystery film Lobang Buaya: 309 Hari Sebelum Tragedi Berdarah. She said she read about what happened in 1965 to understand the social and political atmosphere surrounding the story.

One of the biggest adjustments involved speech. Zen said she had to adapt the way she spoke to bring a character from that period to life, while otherwise following the script written by Bramantyo and Haqi Achmad.

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I happen to like history, so to broaden my knowledge I read books about what happened in 1965.

Ningsih is portrayed as a ronggeng singer in the fictional village of Lobang Buaya. Zen said she enjoyed the role because she has a personal interest in traditional dance. In the film’s setting, ronggeng involves more than movement, serving also as entertainment for the community at celebrations.

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What needed adjusting to return to the character was the way we spoke. For Ningsih herself, I followed the source, the script written by Hanung Bramantyo.

To perform the dance, Zen trained for about two weeks with Dewi Wulan, a specialist from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, under arrangements made by the production team. She stressed that the film is not a remake of Arifin C. Noer’s Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI and is not based on historical events. The characters are fictional, although the story is set a year before the events of 1965 and reflects social distrust of the government.

The film originally carried the title Bolong. After its premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Bramantyo changed it to Lobang Buaya because the village in the story has that fictional name, while the real village is called Lubang Buaya.

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This is not a remake of Arifin C. Noer's film, and it is not a story based on history. It is fiction, the characters are fictional, but the setting takes place a year before the events of 1965.