 Saputra was born in Salatiga, Central Java, on 11 May 1965.As a child he enjoyed watching movies, and in 1985 he enrolled in the Jakarta Art Institute to learn filmmaking.In 1997 he made his directorial debut with the television film "Sepanjang Jalan Kenangan" ("Along Memory Lane"), which was not picked up by any stations as it was considered too idealistic.