The 2024 Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) has come to an end. The 23rd edition of FFD was held live on December 1–9, 2024, at Taman Budaya Yogyakarta (TBY) and the Institut Français Indonesia (IFI) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. FFD 2024 kicked off with a pre-festival event, Le Mois du Film Documentaire, organized in collaboration with IFI Yogyakarta. This year, FFD presented 67 films from 32 countries across 9 programs. FFD’s thematic program, “Perspektif,” offers an exploration of the revolutionary Third Cinema movement through an aesthetic and political approach rooted in the context of the Global South.
Film submissions began on March 1–July 20, 2024, via the official FFD website (at ffd.or.id). A total of 316 submitted films from 67 countries of production were submitted. The number of countries of production for this year’s submissions increased from last year’s total of 55. The countries with the most submitted films include Indonesia (92 films), France (22 films), Germany (21 films), Spain (21 films), Argentina (18 films), India (18 films), Poland (14 films), Brazil (12 films), and Italy (10 films).
There were a total of 92 submitted films produced in Indonesia (or registered as co-productions) from 19 provinces. The provinces with the most entries included DI Yogyakarta and Bali (21 films), DKI Jakarta (16 films), Central Java and West Java (13 films), East Java (8 films), and East Nusa Tenggara (4 films). The distribution of productions from other provinces included West Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Papua, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, West Papua, and West Sumatra.
Of the 316 submitted films, 164 were feature-length documentaries and 152 were short documentaries. Meanwhile, of the 92 registered Indonesian-produced films, 11 are feature-length documentaries and 81 are short documentaries. In this instance, a “short documentary” refers to a film of less than or equal to 40 minutes in length. A “feature-length documentary,” on the other hand, refers to a film of over 40 minutes in length.
A total of 133 films were submitted in the International Feature-Length Competition category and 8 films in the Indonesian Feature -Length Competition category. In other competition categories, 62 films were submitted to the Short Competition and 15 films to the Student Competition category. The 2024 FFD marks the final year that the Short Competition is open to films produced or co-produced in Indonesia. In addition to the competition programs, FFD also accepts film submissions for non-competition programs, which are selected through themes/narratives curated by our programmers. This year, 98 films were submitted to this program.
Of all the submitted films for FFD 2024, 23 films were completed in 2022, 117 films in 2023, and 176 films in 2024. Meanwhile, of the total 92 Indonesian-produced films submitted, 4 films were completed in 2022, 24 films in 2023, and 65 films in 2024.
The submitted films went through a pre-selection process conducted by FFD 2024’s program team, followed by a selection process carried out by the selection committee. The selection committee consists of three members in each category, drawn from backgrounds as film practitioners, film critics, festival program managers, and academics. The films that passed the selection process are categorized into competition and non-competition programs, distributed as follows: International Feature-Length Competition with 10 films, Indonesian Feature-Length Competition with 4 films, Short Competition with 5 films, Student Competition with 5 films, Perspektif with 3 films, Retrospektif with 3 films, Spektrum with 7 films, and Docs Docs: Short! (divided into 2 series) consists of 9 films, Utopia/Dystopia consists of 6 films, Lanskap (consisting of 4 series) consists of 12 films, and Exhibition consists of 4 works. In addition, FFD 2024 screened 4 films in its pre-festival program Le Mois du Film Documentaire. Read the coverage of the FFD 2024 competition program award recipients here.
A total of 67 films from 32 countries were screened at FFD 2024 across 62 screening slots over 8 days, including pre-festival screenings and discussions, but excluding slots for ceremonial events (opening, closing, and awards ceremonies) and exhibitions. These screening slots also included repeated screenings of certain films within specific programs. One screening slot, which was scheduled to feature a film, was canceled due to technical issues related to the venue, which made the screening impossible. During the festival’s screening program, there were 19 Q&A sessions attended by filmmakers and/or film representatives. These sessions were moderated by programmers and members of the selection committee who were present during the festival. Coverage of the Q&A sessions can be accessed here.
A total of 4,367 visitors from various demographic groups attended FFD 2024. The total number of visitors was calculated based on their attendance as film audiences, DOC Talk participants, exhibition visitors, and attendees of ceremonial events. Of this total, 2,134 visitors were from Indonesia. Visitors from countries other than Indonesia included France, Thailand, the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, Angola, Ghana, Iran, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, China, the Congo, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Norway, Palestine, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Yemen.
A total of 1,324 visitors came from DI Yogyakarta, 295 from Central Java, 100 from East Java, 90 from DKI Jakarta, 79 from West Java, and 20 from Banten. The distribution of Indonesian visitors to FFD 2024 from other provinces included Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, North Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Aceh, Bangka Belitung, South Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Riau, Jambi, Lampung, West Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, Maluku, Papua, Central Papua, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Bengkulu, Gorontalo, and North Maluku.
Of this total, there were 5 age groups among FFD 2024 visitors. The distribution of visitors by age group is as follows: 90 visitors in the 10–17 years age group, 1,397 visitors in the 18–25 years age group, 535 visitors in the 26–40 years age group, 129 visitors in the 41–60 years age group, and 17 visitors in the >61 years age group. During the festival, 1,065 visitors identified as male, 1,023 as female, 38 as non-binary, 5 as transgender, and 37 selected “other.”
Based on visitor registrations, there are seven main occupational groups among FFD 2024 visitors. A total of 1,044 visitors work in the field of education (including students and educators), 305 visitors were arts and culture practitioners, 194 visitors were film production and distribution practitioners, 99 visitors were festival, funding, and film market practitioners, 84 visitors were broadcasting and media practitioners, 83 visitors were nonprofit practitioners, 30 visitors were government practitioners, and 328 visitors fell into the other category. The “other” category included freelancers, homemakers, event organizers and managers, private-sector employees, medical workers, agricultural workers, and consultants.
FFD 2024 was organized by 140 committees, consisting of 48 staff members, 78 volunteers, 12 selection committees, and 2 collaborating artists. Volunteer applications were accepted through an open call on the FFD Jotform page (at s.id/volunter-ffd) from September 23–27, 2024. A total of 467 people registered as volunteers and subsequently went through two selection stages (administrative screening and interviews). The interviews were conducted by coordinators and managers from each division as selected by the applicants. Of the 78 volunteers involved, 43 were women, 34 were men, and 1 was non-binary.
Based on the registration details, 74 volunteers were in the 18–24 years age group, 3 volunteers were in the 25–30 years age group, and 1 volunteer was in the >30 years age group. From this data distribution, the youngest volunteer was 18 years old and the oldest was 31 years old. The distribution of educational institutions represented by FFD 2024 volunteers is as follows: Gadjah Mada University with 28 volunteers, Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta with 9 volunteers, Yogyakarta State University with 9 volunteers, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta with 8 volunteers, STMM MMTC Yogyakarta with 7 volunteers, Atma Jaya University with 4 volunteers, and other educational institutions with 13 volunteers. Other educational institutions represented by volunteers include the National Institute of Technology Yogyakarta, STIKOM AKINDO Yogyakarta, STIPRAM Yogyakarta, Ahmad Dahlan University, Amikom University of Yogyakarta, Mercu Buana University of Yogyakarta, Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, Sanata Dharma University, Sebelas Maret University, Yogyakarta University of Technology, UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, and SMK Ma’arif 1 Wates.
All volunteers involved in organizing FFD 2024 began their participation in October 2024, either remotely or in person in Yogyakarta. The distribution of volunteers by region of origin is as follows: 31 volunteers from DI Yogyakarta, 12 volunteers from Central Java, 9 volunteers from East Java, 7 volunteers from DKI Jakarta, 7 volunteers from West Java, and 12 volunteers from other regions. Other regions, based on FFD 2024 volunteer registration data, include Banten, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, Riau, South Sulawesi, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, and North Sumatra.
FFD 2024 could not have been possible without the support of our partners, including co-organizers, jury members, filmmakers, festival partners, and program partners. Forum Film Dokumenter extends our gratitude to the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) and the LPDP through Dana Indonesiana, the Yogyakarta Special Region Cultural Office (Kundha Kabudayan), the Institut Français Indonesia in Yogyakarta, Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, Epson Indonesia, and Rekambergerak.
Full details of FFD 2024’s program and activities can be found here or by downloading the digital catalog here. FFD 2025 will take place in November 2025 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. See you soon!
