Jermal

Jermals, the 1000 m² large fishing platforms made of wood, are situated in the Strait of Malacca off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. 12-year-old Jaya arrives on one of these islands. The deaf professor takes him there after his mother died. The “professor“ hopes for a future of the boy, since Johar, the chief of this Jermal, is said to be the boy’s father. As expected, Johar denies this assertion. The children living and working there illegally just are to collect enough fish. A personal bond would create nothing but trouble and this is something the taciturn, grumpy man does not need. Despite the urgent warning of the silent professor, Johar leaves his son with the other boys. They bully him whenever they can. First, they rummage through his things, then they prevent him from sleeping. And he is always in the center of their torments anyway. Only when the leader of the boys kills Jayas beetle, which he brought with him to the Jermal in a wooden box, Jaya begins to defend himself. He beats the perpetrator without let-up. Johar understands that it is time to start rethinking. But how to go about it after he has always tried to repress the past. He writes his son a letter in which he tries to explain the circumstances of his disappearance twelve years ago. Can there still be a joint future for the two of them?