Food security is an important element of national resilience. Without good quality foods, easy access and sufficient stock, a nation will weaken and slowly lose its identity. Food is a basic human need that must be fulfilled besides clothing and shelter. The right to obtain food as a human right is protected by the country through Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution. It is also an international concern, as stated in the Rome Declaration (1996). Therefore, the community’s distance from food heritage is an important urgency that must be connected. Murdijati Gadjito (Hindra Setya Rini, 2023) opens the discourse and understanding of Indonesian gastronomy.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Murdijati Gardjito is an academia, writer, and food technology and gastronomy researcher. She became a lecturer at the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, in 1996 and was appointed a professor in 2007. Her love for food, especially Indonesian gastronomy, has led her to research and write books. For decades, Murdijati has been researching traditional food at Pusat Kajian Makanan Tradisional (PKMT) UGM since 1996. Until now, in her old age, she is still writing books with the help of her assistants.
Murdijati Gardjito’s life story is pictured attentively in Murdijati Gardjito (2023). Not only her achievements, this film also highlights Murdijat’s little-known domestic life. Young Murdijati’s dream to become a diplomat had to be buried when she was not allowed to leave home by her dad. Nonetheless, her determination to contribute to and introduce Indonesia to the world was always maintained after entering university at FTP UGM. There, she started to realize an oddity in the food technology studies development at that time: there was no Indonesian traditional food. It then ignites her to explore Indonesian gastronomy, especially traditional food.
Her poor health slowly took away her eyesight and hearing. In that condition, Murdijati does not give up. For a few times, she still gives lectures through online classes. However, she became more productive in writing books after her campus work began to decrease. With the help of her writing assistants, she produces dozens of published books. Her monumental work, Pusaka Cita Rasa Indonesia, brings together a wide variety of the archipelago’s traditional foods archive, from appetizers to main courses.
In her current condition, Murdijati has not stopped writing. Her enthusiasm to contribute to the nation and country continues to burn. She thanked God, and although she can no longer see the world, the world can see her works and contribution to Indonesia.
Murdijati Gardjito (2023) is selected in Indonesia Feature-Length Competition Festival Film Dokumenter 2023. (Ahmad Radhitya Alam) (Vanis/Catharina)
Film Details
Murdijati Gardjito
Hindra Setya Rini | 47 Min | 2023 | DI Yogyakarta | Color | 13+
Jadwal Tayang
12.04 | Gedung ex Bioskop Permata | 13.00 WIB
12.07 | Auditorium IFI-LIP | 15.00 WIB
