young obama in indonesia: the movie

Obama The Mengteng Kid, a movie about Barack Obama's life as a child in Indonesia, premiered this week in Jakarta. The film, based on a historical novel of the same name, is a fictionalized account of Obama's childhood, from 1967 to 1971: Film of Barack Obama's childhood in Indonesia debuts.

The title refers to the Jakarta neighbourhood where Mr Obama lived and went to school for four years.

Potentially controversial scenes of a young Obama reciting the Koran with Muslim pupils have not been included.

The scenes of the future US president - a Christian - were dropped after they were deemed "too political".

Producer Raam Punjabi said the film was meant to send a message of hope and not religion.

"We wanted to make the movie from the point of view of the children. We did not want to enter into politics. We did not want to enter into religious matters," he told the BBC.

"The message is about the friendship, about the determination, about reaching the sky and that is the sole message of this movie."

From the sound of it, the movie's producers have made every effort to make the film apolitical and non-controversial. And for your information, young Barack is played by 14-year-old Hasan Farooq Ali.

The film's release was originally timed to coincide with President Obama's first official visit to Indonesia -- but the visit has already been postponed twice because of pressing domestic issues. More here: Movie About Obama's Childhood Opens Today.