Writer-director Justin Chon returns to Sundance with a fresh take on a familiar story in rapper Brian “Rich Brian” Imanuel’s film debut, ‘Jamojaya.’
Age-old stories of entertainment industry corruption and suffocating stage-parenting are given a freshly off-kilter perspective in writer-director Justin Chon’s “Jamojaya,” which zeroes in on a few days in the life of a rising Indonesian rapper as he attempts to cut professional ties with his former manager, who also happens to be his father. In many ways a bigger, flashier and more slippery companion piece to Chon’s memorable 2019 Sundance feature “Ms. Purple,” “Jamojaya” is elevated above its familiar narrative paces by sensitive camerawork and a pair of intriguing performances, and its suggestion that showbusiness ambitions and family ties don’t so much collide as unravel on parallel tracks.
The film debut for Jakarta-native rapper Brian “Rich Brian” Imanuel, who rocketed to sudden viral fame back in 2016, “Jamojaya” casts him as James, a young MC who finds himself in the aftermath of a similar scenario. With enough heat on his name to attract the attention of American record labels, James has just signed a deal and set up shop in a luxe beach house in Hawaii to record his debut album. He has a new manager, the no-nonsense Shannon (Kate Lyn Sheil). A pretentious, high-profile director (Chili Pepper Anthony Kiedis, obviously enjoying himself) is on tap to direct his first music video. And a coterie of producers, assistants and opportunistic hangers-on have assembled around him, whether he wants them there or not.
