Kei

Until the religious conflict erupts during the last days of the Suharto regime, the Kei people lived in harmony regardless of religion. Namira and her parents are Muslims and live on Kei Kecil Island when fighting breaks out. Namira loses both her parents and must flee.
Sala, a young Protestant, leaves home after his mother is murdered in a massacre. He meets Namira at a refugee camp and the two fall in love before being separated by the continuing violence which threatens the islanders’ survival.

Namira travels by boat to Makassar, and is taken in by a mother and daughter, while Sala goes to Jakarta and is ensnared by Boss Yo’s gang of debt collectors. He commits murder for hire after Bos Yo threatens Namira’s life.

The violence on Kei is settled through the power of Kei tradition that prohibits fighting except for defending a woman’s honor and one’s property. Namira returns home and reunites with her best friend, a Christian. Sala flees from the police and dies from a wound onboard a ship sailing toward home.¹

1. Dalang Publishing ↩