The fundamental narration of documentaries often comes from the simplest mundane narratives. Yet, when we try to step afar to take a closer look, those mundane things start to give us a glimpse of personal and social struggles. The films in this program explore the intertwining of the small and big narratives pertaining the humans’ positions in society and their relation with the environment they live in. Moreover, the choice of medium and approach of the film also takes a vital aspect of how it is presented, strengthening their narration through what we can see.
The Unseen Words (Wahyu Utami, 2017), captures the daily lives of visually impaired people who are members of a performance group. Using observational approach, the film follows the subjects’ movements patiently without laying judgment. The anxiety of competing for a job as a masseuse, the joy of singing together, and the struggle to find support for performances. The footage reveals and unravels the complexities inherent in everyday life. If… (Diva Suki Larasati, 2019) is a short animation that uses simple visual language to depict the flashback of a child who lost his father-a human rights activist who was murdered. Animation becomes a medium to envision the father-daughter relationship and its estrangement.
Diaspora (Ivonne Kani, 2015) is a diary compiling the experiences of the filmmaker and her family as Chinese. The film intimately traces the family’s journey and genealogy across generations and countries, sparking conversations about identity struggles, especially among the younger generation of Chinese in Indonesia. Presented using observational approach, The Crowded Bridge (David Darmadi, 2016) composes an audiovisual portrait of a small bridge crowded with people’s activities. Using the bridge as a focal point, the film observes the shapes and rhythms of daily activities that, consciously or not, are shaped by an urban setting.
The last film, Children of Rapa’i Plok (Nursalliya Ansari B, 2017), adopts expository approach in narrating the endeavor of a group of children to keep playing traditional music in their village. The use of expository in this film is unique because it is able to get close to the subject, showing the social dynamics and friendship between them. The intertwining of the big narrative represented by traditional music and the small narrative represented by friendship is nicely crafted.
The five films in this program represent the effort to look closer towards such mundane things and its relation with big perspective while also present it with the form and approach to communicate.
— Valencia Winata
Programmer
