Ami Priyono passes away after stroke

Ami Priyono passes away after stroke

Prominent movie director Ami Priyono, 61, took his last breath
on Wednesday morning after suffering a stroke at his home on Jl.
Sindanglaya in Cinere, Sawangan, south of Jakarta.

He is survived by his wife, feminist figure Julia Suryakusuma
and son, Aditya Pryawardhana.

Ami most recently received treatment at the Puri Cinere
hospital for a number of ailments, including hypertension,
diabetes and lung problems.

Julia could not be reached for comment at her home.

A woman who answered the telephone in Julia's home said that
she was currently resting.

"What we hope is that Pak Ami's soul now rests in peace. He
passed away in his sleep at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday," said the
woman who requested anonymity.

Ami was buried at the Poncol graveyard in Cinere on Wednesday
afternoon.

The director and former head of the Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ)
is most remembered for, among other things, his wide screen
movies Cintaku di Kampus Biru (1976, My Love on the Blue Campus),
and Jakarta-Jakarta (1977), which won five awards at the
Indonesian Film Festival and took the awards for technique,
presentation and theme at the Asian Film Festival in Sydney.

After the local film industry plunged into the trouble, Ami
turned to television with his successful TV drama Salah Asoehan
(Wrong Upbringing).

Born Lembu Amiluhur Priyawardhana in Jakarta, Amy was the only
son of Prof. R. Priyono, a minister of education and culture
under Sukarno.

He entered the School of Archeology at the University of
Indonesia but dropped out prior to graduating, before going on to
major in Artistic Arrangement at the Cinematography Academy,
Moscow. (ylt)