Indonesian filmmaker to retell Obama childhood

Production is slated to start on a children's film recounting the childhood of Barack Obama in Indonesia, where he lived as a child from 1967 to 1971 after his mother married an Indonesian.

Jakarta (dpa) May 12, 2010 -- A film recounting the childhood of US President Barack Obama in Indonesia was set to start production this week, an Indonesian production company said Wednesday.

The film is based on a book titled "Obama Anak Menteng" (Obama the kid from Menteng, a district of Jakarta), which contains accounts of Obama's childhood by people who knew him in Indonesia.

"We hope the film will inspire children to pursue their dreams," Aris Muda, a spokesman for Multivision Plus, the production company known for making television soap operas.

Obama is widely popular in Indonesia, where he lived as a child from 1967 to 1971 after his mother married an Indonesian.

Damien Dematra, author of the book and the screenplay, said one of Obama's childhood friends recounted how the future US president performed Islamic prayers.

"We're still considering whether to include this in the script," he said.

Such a revelation could trigger controversy in the United States, where claims that Obama is a closet Muslim and was educated in a radical Islamic school in Indonesia surfaced during the presidential campaign two years ago.

Shooting for the film will start Thursday and is scheduled to be completed in two weeks.

It will be released in time for a much-anticipated visit by Obama to Jakarta next month.

"Obama has told his story in the media and books, but if you want to know the story from the points of view of people who were close to him, you will get it this film," Dematra said.

Obama had been due to visit Indonesia in March, but the trip was postponed to June to allow him to attend the crucial final vote on US health-care reform.

The local media have dubbed his planned visit pulang kampung, or homecoming.

Copyright: dpa