By Mark Vincent A. Durano and Rj Jallorina

Indonesian writer Ratih Kumala shared to Far Eastern University (FEU) students and staff her experience writing the novel ‘Cigarette Girl,’ which was adapted into a Netflix series, at the Special Collections Room of FEU Library last September 14. 

The novel revolves around the search for Jeng Yah across different timelines and the exploration of Indonesia's history of their tobacco industry. Its series counterpart has five episodes.

In the talkback session, Kumala shared the creative process upon writing the book from 2008 to 2012, now available in six languages. 

“I finished writing Cigarette Girl in 2012, [which took] a long time [of] four years. Only in 2015 when the book [was] first published in [a] foreign language which is [German], right now, it’s already published in six languages,” she cited.

The author also shared her experience researching the tobacco culture and traveling to several locations in Indonesia to conduct interviews. 

“Every time I would just get my salary, I’m going to take one day off during the weekend, usually on Friday. I use the money [I earned] to do the research. I would go to these small cities in Java because so many cities in Java produce clove cigarette[s], and for me, that is interesting,” Kumala said.

The session also invited the series’ producer Tanya Yuson, who also worked behind the Filipino supernatural animation Netflix show ‘Trese.’

In an interview with FEU Advocate, Yuson mentioned her taste in making and producing shows focused on female protagonists to battle gender roles. 

“It’s really the story first, for both those titles [Trese and Cigarette Girl], the story first is what attracted me. Female[s] and strong females are at the heart of it. I guess it's a coincidence. But the interesting thing between both [stories] is… Alexandra Trese living in a matriarchal society versus Jeng Yah in this patriarchal society. The contrast is different but very compelling to explore,” she added.

Yuson shared how the characters she and Kumala wrote for the Cigarette Girl series were relatable and reflective of the realities the story was based on.

“We are invested in these characters because we fall in love with these characters. We know them, we root for them, we hate them, it [is] all there. Ratih had all of that in the book and the challenge for us to figure out how to structure it,” the producer said. 

Kumala also shared how Cigarette Girl reached the interest of Filipino audiences due to the periods of colonialism and war that occurred in both Indonesia and the Philippines as well as the similarities of their culture. 

She also mentioned romance and family as common themes that any audience would relate to.

“I think in terms of good stories, there are two kinds of things that unite all the audience from around the world. First is romance and the second is family, once you have those two in one story it's going to be easy for the audience to be relatable in the story. And in Cigarette Girl we have both of them,” Kumala added.

Attendees were able to buy a copy of the book signed by the author.

Cigarette Girl premiered at the 28th Busan International Film Festival last October 5, 2023, and was released on Netflix last November 2, 2023.

(Photo by Rj Jallorina/FEU Advocate)