"KKN di Desa Penari" (Student Study Service at the Village of Dancers) is making its way to the big screens after being viral on the internet a few years ago.

The film is said to be based on a true event during a KKN (student study service) program implemented in 2009 at an ancient village in East Java.

On June 24, the narrative of the film was initially shared on Twitter by SimpleMan under the username @SimpleM81378523. Those tweets are written in the local language (Eastern Javanese dialect) with a translation in Indonesian.

KKN di Desa penari-

Horror Story-@bacahorror #bacahorror pic.twitter.com/QM0zY8m9rj

— SimpleMan (@SimpleM81378523) June 24, 2019

The thread quickly went viral, with more than 33k retweets and over 80k likes from Twitter users. In addition, a significant number of people also attempted to determine the location of the Desa Penari.

The plot

The story of KKN di Desa Penari began in 2019 when six college students, Nur, Widya, Ayu, Bima, Anton, and Wahyu, came to a remote village to carry out their KKN. 

They never imagined that the village they chose was anything but ordinary.

The students were told that the community appeared to be riddled with a mystery linked to the figure of a legendary dancer named Badarawuhi. The village chief, Pak Prabu, urged them to always follow the local rules and stay away from a certain forbidden gate during their stay.

However, the strange atmosphere of the village got to them. Nur and Widya were haunted by the dancer, and Bima's demeanor changed. Their KKN was a massive failure, and it appeared that the village's unseen residents had come to dislike them.

Nur eventually discovered a shocking fact that one of them had broken one of the village's most sacred rules. As the terror of the mysterious dancer became more intense, they tried to seek assistance from Mbah Buyut, the local shaman, but it was too late. Instead, they were warned that they would not be able to go out from the village safely.

Behind the production

Awi Suryadi, who previously directed the Danur saga, has released a trailer for the film. At first, there was speculation that this film would be directed by Joko Anwar with Chelsea Islan as Widya and Laudya Chintya Bella as Nur. But on December 8, 2019, Awi Suryadi, one of the seven directors who showed interest in producing this film, was eventually selected as director. 

He worked with Gerald Mamahit and Lele Laila on the screenplay, and the original writer, SimpleMan penned the story. 

Tissa Biani, who was officially chosen to play Nur, the main character in the film, shared her excitement when the KKN Di Desa Penari release date was finally announced to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by KKN Movie (Official) (@kknmovie)

Adinda Thomas (Widya), Aghniny Haque (Ayu), Fajar Nugraha (Wahyu), Calvin Jeremy (Anton), and Achmad Megantara (Bima) will also be featured in this film. Pak Prabu is played by senior performer Kiki Narendra, Mbah Buyut by Diding Boneng, and Badarawuhi is played by a famous actress, Aulia Sarah.

The majority of the filming was done in Yogyakarta. In order to add a touch of authenticity, however, filming also took place in several places in East Java. The filming process and production were helped by Pichouse Films and MD Pictures. MD Music Indonesia also composed the film's soundtrack named "Batas", performed by Danilla Riyadi.

KKN Desa Penari was initially scheduled to be released on March 19, 2020. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, the film will instead be released on February 24, 2022.