Kings and Coolies (Riding the Tiger Ep. 1)

Presenting Curtis Levy at Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) 2026 is an opportunity to revisit Indonesia’s history during the New Order era. Through his films, Levy documented how power was structured and exercised, how political violence unfolded, and how a regime exercised its control. Levy’s works are significant as they were produced at a time when free speech was severely restricted and many events could not be discussed openly. Revisiting these films today is not merely about looking back at the past. Twenty-eight years after Reformasi, the current situation clearly exposes many of New Order’s enduring issues: the reinforcement of the military’s role in civil life, the restricting of critical discourse, the centralisation of power, human rights violations—both past and present—and policies favourable to the regime rather than the people. Reformasi has brought about great changes, but it has not automatically severed the political legacy of the previous regime.

For FFD, this program also serves as a space to reinterpret Indonesian history through the lens of foreign filmmakers. Levy’s perspective is certainly not neutral and is not without its limitations. Yet, it is precisely this that opens up an opportunity to re-examine our memories, to notice things that may have been overlooked, and to question the ways in which history has been narrated thus far. This program serves not only as a tribute to a filmmaker—one of whom contributed by sharing his knowledge and granting access to footage to emerging Indonesian documentary filmmakers in the post-reform era—but also as an invitation to examine the origins and dynamics of power, history, and civic freedom from the past, which can still help us understand today’s democratic challenges.

— Kurnia Yudha F.
Programmer