The Whistle Starts Whispering

In Southeast Asia, to speak directly and criticise the authorities is to be subject to severe prosecution. To mitigate this, we have learned to speak around a subject, refer to it and shape it, without having to address it directly. Our programme, How to Say Something Without Speaking, brings together films from across the region that examine and propose a variety of methods on how to speak up for yourself and your rights without compromising on your safety.

Developed as part of the Teka-teki Sinema film programming workshop hosted by FFD earlier this year, we are further addressing the position of the witnesses of history. In an age of live-streamed genocide, war, and mindless doom-scrolling, is it still enough to bear witness? In this context, we are particularly drawn to the haptic effects of sound, which demands of the viewer to engage beyond vision and engage films physiologically. By centering haptic sound, we propose a means of engaging with films beyond vision and into a totality of sensorial experience towards re-engagement with our world.

–Sasha Han, Shelma Feraniza, Yosua Imantaka
Programmer

The growth of Indonesian short documentaries is not only marked by diverse topics, but also the exploration of out-of-the-box storytelling. Within a limited duration, filmmakers are challenged to convey their ideas efficiently. This year, the 7 films in the Short Competition program represent the dynamics of Indonesian short documentaries in the past year. From the quest of history, customary beliefs, trauma escapism, to the question of self-identity roll one by one in the films in this program. The presentation of these narratives is represented by ways of storytelling that do not merely follow the rules, but also dare to break the invisible boundaries of how short documentaries should be presented.

Selected finalists in Short Competition program are supposed to offer insights not only into how far–or how close–Indonesia documentary has come, but also to requisition what kind of development our documentary really needs.

General note on Competition
To continue taking part in documentary development and exploration in Indonesia–and the world–is Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD)’s main objective. FFD’s Competition Program is the main channel in assessing these dynamics. This year, more than 400 films were submitted. Through those numbers, topics about tradition are still on the pedestal. However, the way of perceiving and contextualization regarding the issues presented became a fairly fresh offer from several submitted films.

The presentation of perspectives and aesthetic overtures against conventional patrons became the lively scene of this year’s film submissions. These propositions lead us–at least–to take a look at the filmmakers’ heads and the way they see the world in continuous flux. From Latin America to Eastern Europe, they all share a common thread: human prowess in responding to nature and life.

Within 4 categories, this year’s 28 finalists not only present a diverse palette of storytelling and viewpoints, but also respond to the mundane everyday matters that revolve around them. The seemingly constant life becomes the birthplace of a documentary that is rather dynamic. A trip to the distant memory of history, a glimpse of the unknown future, as well as a celebration of day-to-day life become the supporting verbs of the documentaries in this program. All in all, the films in this program introduce us to fragments of life that, hopefully, can be our basis in celebrating what stays unchanged and what needs to be changed.

– Gerry Junus & Rugun Sirait