After 12 years of documentary courses being absent as a form of Integrated Practicum in the Film Department at IKJ, Bikeska, Paul, Arrivo, and Raihanul chose to break the tradition. Amidst the dominance of fiction films, which are considered more prestigious, they chose documentaries due to budget constraints and a desire to respond to the world in a more honest and intimate way. Their poetic documentary film captures two layers of reality: a man who draws architectural spaces, and the laborers who build them.
However, the process led to a creative crisis and the images were too structured as the treatment felt like fiction filmmaking. The question arose: were they recording reality or constructing it? The camera turned around, highlighting the team’s process and confusion. Ultimately, the film not only captures space and labor, but also reflects that documentaries, like buildings, are the result of construction and choice.
Jonathan Gradiyan
Jonathan Gradiyan, third place winner of the 2025 Europe on Screen Short Film Pitching with In The Name of Me (2025), is a Film & TV student at IKJ from Yogyakarta. Focused on documentary filmmaking, he has worked with JAFF’s Traffic Team, cofounded Pallapa Pictures, and screened his hybrid doc titled Celebration: A Bliss Parade (2024) at festivals, including KKIFF Malay.
Have you ever wondered the reason why the films were made while you were watching them? Or, how was the creative work behind them? Constructed (Jonathan Gradiyan, 2025) takes us behind the scenes of a documentary. Designing creative ideas that are being constructed, exposed, and then it is discussed by Bikeska, Paul, Arrivo, and Raihanul.…
