The Story of Kristo Immanuel's Directorial Debut in 'TINGGAL MENINGGAL', Mawar De Jongh Gives Praise

When asked about how he ventured into directing, Kristo Immanuel shared his story. It turns out, he has an educational background that supports this.

"Before I joined the corps as a talent, I studied film at UMN. I also took directing. So initially, I mostly acted in short films and directed short films as well. I also directed commercials. So it started from there. Then I moved on to content, and eventually dove into feature films," he explained. 

Kristo then explained some detailed aspects of this film. One of them, Kristo mentioned that the main character in TINGGAL MENINGGAL uses comedy to come to terms with all the events in his life.

"So this film is a, what do you call it, literal translation of comedy as a coping mechanism. So the main character uses comedy to make peace with the events in his life. So Gema, since he was little, has had no friends, he didn't get attention from his parents either, he was very lonely, he had no one in his life, basically he lived alone. But he uses comedy for what? To come to terms with that," Kristo revealed.

Nirina Zubir as a cast member and also a senior actress revealed how unique Kristo's behavior was during the shooting process. 

"Kristo as a director is very funny because he often forgets that he is the director. So he often, like for example when we are on break, we are all hanging out and suddenly he asks, what are you guys doing? You’re the director... go over there!" he explained.

Meanwhile, Mawar De Jongh mentioned that as a director, Kristo gave her detailed direction about the character she would play. This made Mawar interested in portraying the character in the film TINGGAL MENINGGAL. 

"What makes me fall in love with Karen is that she is a character that is new to me. So from the beginning, Kak Kristo explained that Karen will be like this, like this. I was really interested in playing (this character) because I think she is a character who doesn't really care about what people think when she expresses what she thinks. She's that confident, that brave to talk about what she thinks to others, so it's kind of cool," she explained.

The film 'TINGGAL MENINGGAL' focuses on Gema (Omara Esteghlal), an office worker who is portrayed as awkward and lonely. After the death of his father, Gema suddenly becomes the center of attention among his coworkers, but when that warmth quickly fades, an absurd question arises in his mind about 'who else needs to die for him to be noticed again?' 

Here are the cast of TINGGAL MENINGGAL. Omara Esteghlal as Gema, Mawar de Jongh as Kerin, Shindy Huang as Adriana, Nada Novia as Naya, Muhadkly Acho as Cokro. Adit Erwandha as Ilham, Mario Caesar as Danu, Jared Ali as young Gema, Nirina Zubir as Mother Gema. 

The film that marks Kristo Immanuel's debut as a director can be watched in theaters starting August 14, 2025. Mark the date, KLovers!