The screening of Short Competition compilation took place at Pascasarjana ISI Yogyakarta on November 22nd, 2025 as a part of Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) 2025. This session screened a compilation of A Vague Outline (Giorgia Piffaretti, Nicolle Bussien; 2025), Perishable Idol (Majid Al-Remaihi, 2024), This is Not Your Garden (Carlos Velandia, Angélica Restrepo; 2025), and THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Kevin Walker, Irene Zahariadis; 2025). The screening was followed by a Q&A session with the directors of A Vague Outline, Giorgia Piffaretti and Nicolle Bussien, and was moderated by Valencia Winata, one of the Short Competition selectors. The discussion opened with the filmmakers sharing that the project first began as a performance lecture before evolving into a film form, shaped from a collection of facts, anecdotes, and different sources that were reworked into a more immersive experience.
Valencia began by asking about the background of the project and its relationship to the filmmakers’ broader research. Piffaretti described that the initial exploration started with controversial public sculptures, which gradually expanded into a study of the landscape and the material environment surrounding a marble quarry.
The conversation then moved to the context of the screening within the compilation. Addressing Valencia’s question about watching A Vague Outline alongside the three other works that reflect on landscapes and the relationship between humans/non-humans and place, the filmmakers noted that the thematic connection is still fresh to process, but they recognized intersections through perspectives on memory and interpretation.
Audience questions followed, including one that reflected on the film’s structure and the decision to place the “main statement” about public sculpture toward the end. Piffaretti explained that the editing process carried traces of its origin as a performance lecture, approaching different anecdotes and legends gradually to arrive at the shift from nature and perception into a more active construction of form and interpretation.
Another audience member asked about how facts and anecdotes were combined within the film. Piffaretti and Bussien responded by sharing that the last legend in the film is actually a fiction they wrote, based on the style of traditional legends, while the real content and anecdotes were gathered from the marble quarry and conversations with people on site. The filmmakers described a layering process moving from imagination and legitimation to the concrete intervention within the landscape.
Before closing, Valencia raised a final question regarding the collaborative process behind the film. The directors explained that in this case, the collaboration grew organically from previous work and long-term friendship. They made every creative decision in tandem and thoughtfully considered the how and why behind each one. The session concluded with appreciation from the audience before moving into the next screening segment. This compilation will be screened for the second time on November 25th, 2025. Count yourself in by registering yourself at ffd.or.id. (Vanis, 22/11/2025)
