Pesantren: 3 Wishes 3 Loves, is the story of three best friends living and studying in a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in a small village in Central Java, Indonesia. Huda is a dedicated pupil of Kyai Wahab, a religious leader who preaches tolerance and peace. Huda longs to be reunited with his long-lost mother. Rian is a keen amateur filmmaker, who is plotting to run away and join a travelling film exhibitor as his assistant projectionist. Syahid comes from a poor farming family and is desperate for money to fund an urgent liver transplant for his father. Joining an extremist religious group, Syahid quickly finds himself facing an agonising moral dilemma. In the lead up to their graduation, life changes irrevocably for the three friends following the events of September 11, 2001, when they are accused of being members of a hardline Islamic group linked to terrorist activities in Indonesia.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
