Merindu Cahaya De Amstel

Hey, Marien.

Marien, wait.

Wow, now you don't want to be touched too?

Why you wear such a funny clothing like that?

Stop./ You look silly.

Stop, Niels.

From the best selling Novel Merindu Cahaya De Amstel

My name is Siti Khadija.

And this is the story of my life.

A Film by Hadrah Daeng Ratu

Come on. Let's get off here.

Hey, what are you doing?

Get off the bus with me and I'll explain later.

Come on.

What's wrong with you?

Why did you make me get off here?

Who are you?/ I'm sorry.

Look at your bag.

Oh, my God.

All good.

Good thing nothing fell.

Thank, God./ Yeah.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you inside the bus.

I was afraid it would cause a fuss.

Yes, it's okay. Oh, my gosh.

I'm the one who should apologize. I spoke so rudely to you.

It's okay. I would be angry too...

...if a stranger pulled me to get off the bus.

Where are you going?

To campus. It's near De Amstel.

Yes, it's not far from here.

Do you want me to take you there?

Yeah. Sure./ Yeah.

There are a lot of pickpockets here.

So you have to be careful.

Yes. I didn't realize it at all.

I'm Khadija.

I'm Kamala.

Are you from the Netherlands?

Why is your Indonesian so good?

Yes, I'm from the Netherlands...

...but I study Indonesian literature at college.

Every single fate from Allah...

...is a beautiful story that has been written for us.

Thank you.

Be careful./ Thank you.

Allah made a plan for every meeting that we have with someone.

Hey, wait, wait.

Let me see the photo before that.

Zoom in to the girl with hijab.

Zoom in.

Hey, that girl looks shiny!

Maybe the sunlight or...

Whatever it is,I want that photo for this week's edition!

Okay!/ Yes!

Yeah!/ But, sir...

No excuses!

Joko, will prepare a contract.

Also, put a title in the contract.

What's the title?

The title is "A Muslim Beside the Amstel River"...

...or "Angel in Light". Yeah? Okay.

The problem is, she's not a model! Sir.../ Back to work.

Why did you agree with him?

I don't know who that girl is.

Now where should I look for her?

Because Allah knows what's best for our lives.

Hello.

Is there anything I can help?

Please.

Let me see.

Are you from Indonesia?

Yes, how did you know?

You have the Indonesian flag on your bag.

Oh, yeah.

How do you know Indonesian?

Yeah, I lived in Indonesia before.

Are you here to study?/ Yeah, I'm going to college here.

Just a little bit more.

Already fixed.

Wow, so fast. Thank you.

You're welcome.

I'll be going now./ Okay.

Be careful on your way./ Okay.

See you./ See you.

For every love that unexpectedly comes...

...and might last forever.

Move!

Longing for light in Amstel

Peace be upon you./ Peace be upon you too.

Did you all just finish reading the Quran together?

Yes, we finished./ Okay. I'm going to go inside.

I'm going to pray./ Okay, then.

We'll be going first, Khadija./ Yeah. I hope we meet again.

I hope so too. Okay, Khadija./ See you.

Hello.

Good evening.

Good evening./ I'm Nicholas.

I'm Khadija.

Sorry, is there something you need?

Sorry. I'm a photographer and journalist...

...and I wanted to show you this.

You secretly took a photo of me?

No. More precisely, it was accidental.

I was taking photos randomly.

And it was a coincidence that you went into the frame.

I see. Thank you.

I'll be going in now./ One more thing.

I want to ask for your permission to publish it in the media.

Media?

I'm sorry. I don't understand. For what?

There's nothing special about this photo.

You're wrong.

Try to look at it again.

Look behind you.

That light.

That's what makes it special.

My boss asked me to publish it in the media.

And of course, I need your permission.../ I'm very sorry.

I'm sorry, but I can't do that.

Thank you for the photo.

So you met the person, but you let her go just like that?

Do you know the consequences?

Nic, we'll get fired.

Where did you meet her?

Let me talk to her./ It's no use, Joko.

Instead of doing that, it's better for you to think of another concept.

But this is the only concept that our boss likes.

Come on. Help me.

These are the books you're looking for/ Which one...

Have a look.

Can I help you? What book are you looking for?

Did you forget me?

I remember. But if you came back to ask about the photo, I'm very sorry.

My answer is still the same.

Can I add something?

It's not just that photo that will be published.

But later, an article will be published about Muslim women in Europe.

Isn't that great? To be some sort of Islamic figure?

What do you know about Muslim women?

You can come back here if you have the answer to that.

Sorry. Are you going to take the book?

Yes.

20 Euro.

I have 50 Euro.

Please./ Thank you.

Happy reading.

Peace be upon you, Mala.

Khadija. Peace be upon you too.

It turns out we go home at the same time.

Yeah. The weather is nice, so I'm riding a bike.

Yes, it's really nice today./ Where did you come from?

My workplace. It's not far from here.

Yeah./ Oh, yeah, Mala.

I have an assignment from campus about Asian performance arts.

Can I ask for your help?

Sure. How can I help?

Do you have time tomorrow?/ Tomorrow...

I have time tomorrow.

Hey. Sorry.

Hello./ Hi.

Oh, my gosh. Sorry, Khadija./ It's okay.

Sorry I'm late./ I just got here too.

Really? You weren't here long, right?/ Really. I wasn't.

Wait a bit, okay? Soon my friends who'll help you will also come.

Yes, I'm very grateful./ Just relax. You're welcome.

Hey, have you tried the stamppot here?

Not yet. But I've been here a couple times.

The stamppot here is the best.

Hi.

There she is.

Hey, Nic, isn't that the girl in your photo?

Yes./ Why is she here?

It's everywhere. But the best.../ Hi, Kamala!

Hey, Jok!

Oh, my gosh.

It's been so long. Where were you?/ It's been so long.

Where were you?

Hey, what are you going to do? Here.

I can't?/ Later. You haven't introduced yourselves.

This is Nico, my friend from the office who will help us.

Hello. I'm Nicholas./ Hello. I'm Mala.

Have we met before?

Did you help someone fix her bike?

A few days ago./ Yeah.

Okay./ That was you, right?

You're the girl with the Indonesian flag on her bag?

That's right. On my bag.

How's your bike?/ It's all taken care of.

Oh, my gosh. I never thought we would meet again here.

It turns out the world is small.

There are people here./ Yeah. I forgot that you were here.

Khadija, let me introduce you. This is my friend, Joko, who will help us.

And this is Nicholas.

I already met Nico before.

You two know each other?/ Nico got rejected by her.

Rejected?/ No, no. Joko is just kidding.

No. Good thing I haven't yet. I haven't even introduced myself.

I'm Joko./ I'm Khadija.