A fascinating glimpse into the powerful forces that led an 18-year-old boy to walk into the lobby of a Jakarta hotel and blow himself up.
On July 17, 2009, an 18-year-old boy walked into the lobby of the JW Marriot hotel in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and blew himself up. Five other people died in the attack and many more were injured.
The Indonesian police quickly identified the bomber as Dani Dwi Permana - a teenager with no prior criminal record or history of violence.
So what could have driven him to commit such an act? It was a question that plagued Dani's older brother, Jaka Karyana, and a year on from that day he set out to discover the answer.
Filmmakers Lynn Lee and James Leong travelled with Jaka on his emotional search to discover what turned his brother into a suicide bomber.
We first watched the news on TV about a year ago - a suicide bombing at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel and another one just down the road at the Ritz Carlton. There was shattered glass and debris everywhere, throngs of reporters and camera crews. We saw body bags being carried out of the hotels. But what really jolted us was CCTV footage released by the police of a gangly young man, calmly wheeling his luggage through the lobby of the Marriott ... and then, the explosion. This was Dani Dwi Permana. He was just 18 years old when he died.
Why would a teenager commit such an act? In March this year, the subject surfaced during a conversation with a magazine editor friend. One of her freelancers had recently met Dani's family. I asked if they might be interested in sharing their story in a TV documentary. The request was followed by phone calls and emails. We were a little surprised when they agreed.
Right from the start, we knew we wanted to build our film around Dani's older brother, Jaka. He had dropped out of university to support his younger sibling after their parents split up. He had been the last person in the family to see Dani before the bombing. It was Jaka who arranged his brother's funeral and who continues to wonder if he could have stopped Dani from becoming a mass murderer.
An ordinary life
Before we left for Jakarta, we did not know how much Jaka was prepared to share. But he surprised us with his candor. It was as if he wanted to show us a side of Dani we never knew existed.
We spent hours listening to tales of their childhood together, the games they played, the mischief they got up to, the fact that Dani loved basketball. Jaka wanted us to know there was more to his brother than that one terrible tragedy. The bomber was also a regular kid.
And this was perhaps what struck us most about their story - the ordinariness of the lives they led before their parents split up. A security guard father. A stay-at-home mother. A house in a quiet neighbourhood in a nicer part of town. Prayers at night.
Jaka's mother took pains to tell us that her sons were good boys.
"Lots of kids do drugs," she said. "Jaka and Dani never did."
So what happened?
Four months before the bombing, the boys' father, Zulkifli, was found guilty of theft and put in prison. They lost their home. Their mother, Kartini, fell apart emotionally. Unable to cope, she decided to return to her hometown in Kalimantan. Kartini took her two youngest sons with her. Jaka and Dani were left to fend for themselves.
Four months. That was all it took to turn Dani. Four months on his own, with no adult for emotional support other than the religious cleric who convinced him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Jaka continues to blame himself for not being there for his brother.
On July 17, 2009, an 18-year-old boy walked into the lobby of the JW Marriot hotel in the Indonesian capital Jakarta and blew himself up. Five other people died in the attack and many more were injured.
The Indonesian police quickly identified the bomber as Dani Dwi Permana - a teenager with no prior criminal record or history of violence.
So what could have driven him to commit such an act? It was a question that plagued Dani's older brother, Jaka Karyana, and a year on from that day he set out to discover the answer.
Filmmakers Lynn Lee and James Leong travelled with Jaka on his emotional search to discover what turned his brother into a suicide bomber.
We first watched the news on TV about a year ago - a suicide bombing at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel and another one just down the road at the Ritz Carlton. There was shattered glass and debris everywhere, throngs of reporters and camera crews. We saw body bags being carried out of the hotels. But what really jolted us was CCTV footage released by the police of a gangly young man, calmly wheeling his luggage through the lobby of the Marriott ... and then, the explosion. This was Dani Dwi Permana. He was just 18 years old when he died.
Why would a teenager commit such an act? In March this year, the subject surfaced during a conversation with a magazine editor friend. One of her freelancers had recently met Dani's family. I asked if they might be interested in sharing their story in a TV documentary. The request was followed by phone calls and emails. We were a little surprised when they agreed.
Right from the start, we knew we wanted to build our film around Dani's older brother, Jaka. He had dropped out of university to support his younger sibling after their parents split up. He had been the last person in the family to see Dani before the bombing. It was Jaka who arranged his brother's funeral and who continues to wonder if he could have stopped Dani from becoming a mass murderer.
An ordinary life
Before we left for Jakarta, we did not know how much Jaka was prepared to share. But he surprised us with his candor. It was as if he wanted to show us a side of Dani we never knew existed.
We spent hours listening to tales of their childhood together, the games they played, the mischief they got up to, the fact that Dani loved basketball. Jaka wanted us to know there was more to his brother than that one terrible tragedy. The bomber was also a regular kid.
And this was perhaps what struck us most about their story - the ordinariness of the lives they led before their parents split up. A security guard father. A stay-at-home mother. A house in a quiet neighbourhood in a nicer part of town. Prayers at night.
Jaka's mother took pains to tell us that her sons were good boys.
"Lots of kids do drugs," she said. "Jaka and Dani never did."
So what happened?
Four months before the bombing, the boys' father, Zulkifli, was found guilty of theft and put in prison. They lost their home. Their mother, Kartini, fell apart emotionally. Unable to cope, she decided to return to her hometown in Kalimantan. Kartini took her two youngest sons with her. Jaka and Dani were left to fend for themselves.
Four months. That was all it took to turn Dani. Four months on his own, with no adult for emotional support other than the religious cleric who convinced him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Jaka continues to blame himself for not being there for his brother.
