During the era of President Soekarno, several students were selected to study abroad, including Awal Uzhara, Sjumandjaja, Ami Priono, and Zubair Lelo. They were sent to Russia to study cinematography at VGIK (The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography). Sjumandjaja and Ami Priono went on to become famous directors in Indonesia, but Awal Uzhara never had the same fortune. After completing his Master's degree in Moscow around 1965, political instability in Indonesia arose. The country's background, where Awal had studied, became associated with a negative stigma about communism, which was linked to him.
