‘The Cost of Assimilation’: A Review of the 19th Indonesian FIlm Festivals' Short Film Competition’s Grand Winner, ‘Daly City’ by Nick Hartanto

Written and directed by Indonesian-American filmmaker, Nick Hartanto, ‘Daly City’ is a 16-minute autobiographical short film that beautifully captures the complexity of the lives of immigrant families as they navigate through their new environment. 

The film follows the perspective of a young Indonesian-American boy, Bastian as he accompanies his mother, Eliawati or more often referred to as Elly, as they attend a church communal potluck with a store-bought dish and a lie.  

Centring on the family’s interaction with their new society and workplace, Hartanto sheds significant light on the harmful idea of the "model minority myth” that stereotypes Asian-Americans as successful and well-adjusted while turning a blind eye to their struggles and the sacrifices they made to build a new life in a foreign land. Elly’s lie and her husband, Harry’s tolerance towards their treatment by the wider society as well as Bastian’s grand display of accomplishments highlights the high expectation Asian-Americans are forced to bear to retain their reputation as well-disciplined and duteous in order to fully belong and be accepted.  

Despite its short length, Hartanto’s meticulous use of details in both the written screenplay and  cinematographic elements of the film successfully elevates his intention of demonstrating an open-ended conclusion where the viewers are encouraged to interpret what they think is really the cost of assimilation. 

Taking the simple example of language, Hartanto’s decision to use bilingual dialogue in the conversations within the family members themselves and amongst the American society heightens the psychological struggle of Bastian, a representation of a Generation 1.5 immigrant who straddles both cultures of his two homes: one where he was born in and another where he will be raised in. Despite Bastian speaking fluent English throughout the film, we hear him speak in his mother tongue, Bahasa Indonesia, for the first time in the later half of the film where the family gathers around their dining table to enjoy a traditional home-cooked Indonesian meal which truly showcases the conflict of identity while also heart-warmingly demonstrates Bastian’s lingering connection to his Indonesian roots. 

Overall, Hartanto’s ‘Daly City’ is a bittersweet representation of the millions of immigrants all over the world who are trying to find their footing in a land they want to call home while still clinging on to the thin thread connecting them to the first place they called home. A thoughtful and reflective short film deserving of its place as the Grand Winner of the 19th Indonesian Film Festival's Short Film Competition.

Written by: Ailene Catherine Susanto