An overarching theme of finding connection poignantly encompasses the storyline in IN THE ABSENCE OF THE SUN. Director Lucky Kuswandi (MADAME X, Festival 2011) deploys his social experiment by highlighting three parallel lives searching for connection in the hectic metropolis of Jakarta. The first being Gia’s (Adinia Wirasti), who — after a long stay in New York City — finds herself in her hometown feeling lost and generally disconnected with the place she used to call home. Gia’s first step at reconnection is her reaching out to Naomi (Marissa Anita), a former love, and they traipse through Jakarta on a night out rediscovering the ties they once shared. The second life is that of Indri (Ina Panggabean), a towel girl at a local gym who tries online dating as a means to find a man and a better life; unfortunately, her efforts only end in undesired results. And then there’s Mrs. Surya (Dayu Wijanto), a widow who visits her deceased husband’s mistress at the lounge she works at, and who eventually finds her own personal means of connection there. The three lives never intersect, but echo each other as they navigate their jumbled lives amidst the urban haze. Kuswandi manages to give a fresh perspective on familiar themes of uneasy emptiness. The film observes a heavy sense of morose discontent, ensconced within the situations of different lives as each woman deals with her given present. Gia is readjusting back into her hometown, while sentiments of the superficiality that’s sunken into the lives around her settles. Indri experiences the ugliness that comes with looking for romance in the wrong place, and forcing it at the wrong time. Mrs. Surya takes what she has left of her husband and uses it for temporary gratification to ease her moment’s adversity, even if it means ignoring questions of morality she nonetheless entertains. What director Kuswandi accomplishes with great affect is a human depiction of the universal struggle with loneliness. IN THE ABSENCE OF THE SUN gives a silent nod to this shared notion with grace. - See more at: http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/in_the_absence_of_the_sun_2015#sthash.cUWYGtA2.dpuf