In the practice of our daily life, we often find a person or group who is adamant and persistent in carrying out something they believe in. That activity—if it can’t be called work—could be a mere hobby, it could be an additional activity that they must engage in addition to their daily work, or it could be a daily job that does not get compensation or salary that is in accordance with the workload.
This practice often takes the mind, time, energy, and emotions of the person. So, why do some people want to do this? The basis could be because of personal love. For example, a group of people who really love music or movies then do music or film preservation work. Or a variety of domestic work such as a family member who has to take care of the condition of a family member who is in trouble, a mother who takes care of her child or vice versa. Another example, how a group of people are willing to put their energy, thoughts, time, costs, and feelings to find their identity in the midst of layers of personal conflict experienced. These work practices are often experienced by a person or group who is certainly outside the economic framework or work that may be far from the effort to meet daily domestic needs.
Humans are imagined to be able to find their identity through work, while in the development of advanced capitalism, the variety of jobs actually alienates humans a lot. Activities or jobs based on affection have a greater possibility for humans to find themselves, but these jobs are outside the economic framework. From personal experience, from personal memory, small movements grow. Gradually the movement becomes a spirit that continues to live and support the person. From these personal experiences and memories, we can find a bigger problem. So, how can we interpret this work further?
This year’s Perspektif Program wants to present a portrait of the persistence and resilience of a person or group of people in carrying out work practices that may start from a personal basis and then we can read to understand the larger structural issues.
Through My Father, Dr. G, we can see the layers between a child’s struggle to support his father, and a father struggling to negotiate a larger structure in medicine. The Traditional Brazilian Family KATU tells how identity in indigenous communities is confirmed through photo documentation as memory artifacts. The Voice Remains presents stories about reconciliation work in the domestic sphere. A Mandolin in Exile presents forms of work outside the economic framework to survive and strengthen the collective spirit through musical presentations. Between Fire and Water presents a personal identity issue that must be negotiated within an indigenous community. Finally, Ketika Tunas Itu Tumbuh, it presents how the events of “disappearance” of cultural symbols that occurred in the past become memories as well as new enthusiasm to strengthen their identity through communal activities/activities in the form of festivals.
These six films represent the goal of the Perspektif program, which is to talk about work practices that are not only focused on the economic aspect. These six films can be enjoyed in the 2021 Documentary Film Festival series.
— Irfan R. Darajat & Alwan Brilian
Programmer
