JALANAN (“Streetside”) tells the captivating story of Boni, Ho and Titi – three gifted, charismatic bus musicians in Jakarta – and through them a wider, mostly-unknown story of contemporary Indonesia. JALANAN intimately portrays the young musicians’ lives and quirky sub-culture, while also painting a striking portrait of Indonesia’s frenzied capital city that is raw, humorous and brutally honest. JALANAN accompanies the three characters as they perform songs of social angst on commuter buses, debate politics, flee their tunnel home during a monsoon flood, and get locked up by police. It follows them back to their home villages in East Java and traces their elusive quest for legitimacy, identity and love in their adopted city.

TITI, 26, is a charming female street singer with a philosophical outlook on life’s struggles. A practicing Moslem, she migrated alone to the big city and is raising two children. She composes catchy folk tunes and dreams of singing professionally, but is overwhelmed trying to support her troubled family. Her unorthodox ‘career’ is kept hidden from her staunchly religious grandmother, who insists that Titi wear a jilbab (Muslim head scarf). One day, Titi discovers she’s pregnant with a baby she can’t possibly afford to raise…

BONI, 24, is hardened by years of life on the streets. He lives inside one of Jakarta’s sewage tunnels and never learned to read and write, but rather than turning to crime or drugs, he composes heartfelt songs about everything from love and longing to the fragile state of the earth. He plays buses by day and spends his free time protecting his underground shelter from flash floods and theft, transforming it into a dignified home. Suddenly, Boni’s beloved stepfather dies, leaving him feeling more alone than ever…

HO, 32, is an aimless bachelor who takes pride in his freedom and mission to create ‘art’ in the form of witty, hilarious songs about social injustice and life in modern Indonesia. He’s trapped under a messy Rastafarian hairdo, can’t get a date with the woman he lusts after, and misses the quaint life of his village in Central Java. But only in the big city does he truly come alive – as an angry troubadour delivering musical messages on life to startled bus commuters, and as a defiant young man decrying discrimination against ‘the little people’. Ho suddenly falls in love and decides to settle down. But before that can happen, he is nabbed by police and locked away in a grim prison cell