Jamila and the President 2009

Jamila (played by Atiqah Hasiholan) opens with a stark narration from a trafficking survivor who lives a glamorous, yet hollow nightlife. After a news report reveals that a government minister named Nurdin has been murdered, Jamila surrenders to the police. Her would-be boyfriend, Ibrahim (played by Dwi Sasono), feels sympathy and begins efforts to free her. Under orders from the president, Jamila is placed in a prison outside Jakarta, where she endures rough treatment from the guards and the warden, Ria (played by Christine Hakim).

In the prison, the warden reads Jamila’s diary and learns her backstory: Jamila was sold by her mother to a middleman, who then sold her to a wealthy family. While living with the family, Jamila is raped by both the father and the son; Jamila kills the son and runs away, while the mother, Jajang C. Noer who plays Ibu Wardiman, is aware of their actions and kills her husband. Jamila becomes a market worker, but must escape again when she learns that some local men plan to rape her. She flees to a discothèque, and when it is raided by the police, she is arrested as a prostitute. After being released, Jamila is raised by Susi, a kind-hearted prostitute who was also caught in the raid Ria Irawan.

Back in the present, several groups demand Jamila’s death; a male guard Surya Saputra takes pity on her, but she remains distant. Ria grows more sympathetic to Jamila, yet their disagreement over Nurdin’s murder leads to Jamila being placed in isolation. A court eventually finds Jamila guilty of murder and sentences her to death, to be carried out in 36 hours. Before the execution, Ria visits Jamila and explains she wants to ask the president for a stay, but Jamila refuses and recounts her search for her sister Fatimah in Borneo, including the time she killed the man who forced Fatimah into a brothel, though she never found her sister.

The day of the execution arrives and the president has not responded; the screen fades to black as a gunshot rings out. Afterward, statistics about child trafficking and prostitution are shown.