Nick Hartanto is an Indonesian-American filmmaker based in New York. His short film, “The Dishwasher,” which he co-directed, was awarded a Special Jury Mention at Tribeca 2019 and was then acquired by HBO Max. His next film, “Atrophy,” a genre bending story about his mother’s fight to recover from a stroke, premiered at Fantasia 2021 and toured the genre festival circuit, winning Best Performance at the Brooklyn Horror and North Bend Film Festival. Also a skilled Cinematographer, he shot the Adult Swim series “Hot Package”. “Daly City,” which was nominated for the Oscar qualifying Best Short Narrative Award at the Hawai’i International and Woodstock Film Festival, is his latest work.
Daly City is screening at Cinema at Sea
Bastian is a young boy of Indonesian heritage who was born in the US by Indonesian parents, Eliawati and Heruawan. As the story begins, he and his mother are attending a church community dinner, but because Eliawati did not have time to cook anything, they are just picking roasted chicken from a Chinese diner. When they arrive at the dinner, mostly attended by white people, she is kind of “coerced” into saying that the chicken is a traditional Indonesian recipe, with Bastian picking up rather quickly and adding to the story.
A bit later on, the two of them go to pick Heruawan from the car sellers he works at, where he also undergoes a slight racist behaviour from his boss and co-workers, which he reacts to by ignoring the whole undertone. Bastian questions him about the fact, and his father has to come true to his son.
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Nick Hartano directs an excellent short about how racism has transformed in the US, with both the settings that appear in the movie highlighting the fact through a combination of amusement and pointedness. That the people ‘exercising’ racist behavior essentially do it without realizing it, even more so in the first setting, emerges as a rather interesting as much as truthful comment. The same applies to the way Eliawati and Heruawan react, both lying in an effort to adapt and be accepted by the society they currently inhabit.
Also interestingly, Hartanto shows two different outcomes in each setting, with the first one being comedic and the second more dramatic, although the approach here is definitely light. The ending, and the concept of food, additionally including the preparation of an Indonesian dish, concludes the short in the best fashion, sending a message of optimism that also states that just because people adapt to their new environments, does not mean that they need to forget their roots.
The acting is on an equally high level. Jett Automo as Bastian steals the show with his intelligence and occasionally cheekiness, while Kaidy Kuna as Heruawan is quite convincing in the role of the father who gets ‘cornered’ by his child. The one who gives the best performance, though, is definitely Michelle Lukiman as Eliawati, with the way she reacts to the situation she finds herself in, in the dinner, is a true treat to watch. The chemistry of the three also becomes evident in the last scene, where all of them are together.
Guido Raimondo’s cinematography is competent, highlighting what is happening mostly through mid-shots, without particular exaltations, although the cooking scene is definitely a treat to watch. Aacharee Ungsriwong’s editing results in a relatively fast pace that allows the story to unfold smoothly in the 16 minutes of its duration.
“Daly City” is an excellent film, which highlights, once more, the progress of Asian American cinema, particularly in the short format.
