Cast and Creators Share About Indonesian Period Drama ‘Cigarette Girl’, Now Airing on Netflix!

Netflix’s newest Indonesian series Cigarette Girl from acclaimed directors Kamila Andini and Ifa Isfansyah will start streaming on November 2. On November 1, Netflix held a press conference and the gala premiere of Cigarette Girl, attended by the cast, creators, Netflix representatives, as well as esteemed guests. 

Based on the novel by Ratih Kumala, the period drama follows the story of Dasiyah (Dian Sastrowardoyo), who’s passionate about concocting the perfect formulas for clove cigarettes, known as kretek. Embedded in the story is a message about powerful women and an epic romance between Dasiyah and Soeraja (Ario Bayu), set against the Indonesian kretek industry and historical events in the 1960s. 

The series is produced by BASE Entertainment with showrunners Shanty Harmayn and Tanya Yuson. Ratih Kumala and Tanya Yuson are credited as screenwriters, along with Kanya K. Priyanti and Ambaridzki Ramadhantyo.

In the press conference, Kamila Andini talked about the character of Dasiyah (Jeng Yah) that spoke to her. “When I read this amazing novel, I was captivated, including by Jeng Yah. As the novel was adapted into a series, the one thing I’d like to see is the spirit of Jeng Yah as a woman who’s so ahead of her time and encounters so much in her life,” she said.

“I’d love it if the figure would live on in us, the women of today, to remember that there’s such spirit and legacy for us to carry on,” Kamila Andini said.

Cigarette Girl brings together A-list actors such as Dian Sastrowardoyo, Ario Bayu, Putri Marino, Sha Ine Febriyanti, Rukman Rosadi and Tutie Kirana. Moreso, they inhabit characters who live in former times and this presents a particular challenge.

Dian Sastrowardoyo reminisced that to delve into the character of Dasiyah, she took on detailed approaches and was mentored by actor Rukman Rosadi, who also became the acting coach for the cast of Cigarette Girl. Dian spoke about the six months of deliberately stopping to see friends to immerse herself in Dasiyah and taking a break from her favorite sports of running and tennis, as they were rarely done by Indonesian women in the 1960s.

“I also stopped listening to modern music and switched to solely gamelan (traditional Javanese music) and classical music. I learnt that as actors we must serve the character, we’re obliged to surrender ourselves to the character,” she added.

Meanwhile Ario Bayu talked about building the chemistry between the character of Soeraja and Dasiyah. He said, “Dian is a meticulously detailed person. She made a comprehensive journal on Dasiyah and I paid attention to that. She gave it her all to the character. And then there’s Dian as her personal self, she is amazing. It’s so easy for me to play Soeraja who falls for Dasiyah. On the set, I just had to look at Dian and consider which side of her I’m going to fall for today.”

Ifa Isfansyah is known as producer for several of Kamila Andini’s films, but the series marks the first time the two collaborated as co-directors. Their approaches complement each other’s, including in storyline, cinematography, script and character details. “We need each other in this collaboration,” Ifa said. “To perceive a character, for instance, Dini needed my perspective and vice versa. This has been a new creative process for us and we hope that the collaboration will make Indonesians proud.”

One of the most striking elements of Cigarette Girl is how it magically transports viewers to the 1960s. The settings and properties, each presented with amazing details, display the hustle and bustle of the M town as well as the kretek industry at the time. More than 100 sets in 20 locations were built to achieve the complete vision of the Cigarette Girl universe, with a focus on 16 main sets where most scenes were filmed.

Shanty Harmayn pointed out that the creative process for the project took about two years, from script development to post-production. “This has been a long journey and all the way from writing to editing is a result of an incredible collaboration,” she said. 

Rusli Eddy, Content Lead, Netflix, Indonesia said, “Beside featuring authentic stories, we’d like to entertain the world and our Indonesian viewers, of course. in order to do so, we make a big commitment in producing high-quality local contents with best-in-class storytelling. And that’s why we collaborated with the best talents such as Ifa and Dini.”

The series also features actors Tissa Biani, Sha Ine Febriyanti, Winky Wiryawan, Sheila Dara, Ibnu Jamil, Rukman Rosadi, Verdi Solaiman, Nungki Kusumastuti, Dimas Aditya, Pritt Timothy and Tutie Kirana. 

Be sure to watch Cigarette Girl starting November 2, only on Netflix.

More photos and unit stills can be accessed here