A human being’s relationship with their small world is one that is constantly being born: the ties intertwine, becoming a relationship worth listening to. Mother-child love at odds, humanity’s need for the earth and its resources, and traditions that want to be carried on to last. Four stories are summarized intimately and warmly in Lanskap: Constellation of Relations. The screening of A Way of Life (2024), Butterfly on a River (2024), SIE… (2024), and The Other Daughter (2024) in the program Lanskap: Constellation of relations was held at Militaire Societeit, Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, on November 7, 2024 at 19.00 WIB.
After the screening, the audience had the opportunity to join a Q&A session with the filmmakers. In attendance were director Ifdhal Permana and producer Suryani Liauw from the film A Way of Life (2024), director Ulfa Evitasari and producer Rahmawati Addas from the film Butterfly on a River (2024), director Yosef Levi and producer Elsyn Puka from the film SIE… (2024), director Fala Pratika and producer Fadhilla Ristianty from the film The Other Daughter (2024). The four films in the program Lanskap: Constellation of Relations are the outputs of Indonesia Documentary Lab (IDOCLAB) 2023 initiated by Forum Film Dokumenter and supported by Kemendikbudristek RI.
The screening was hosted by Kurnia Yudha F. as IDOCLAB Program Director and Marlina Y. Machfud as Pamong Budaya (Cultural Advisor) of the Indonesian Ministry of Culture. “I would like to appreciate Mas Yudha who has been collaborating with the Ministry for two years, and the Director of Festival Film Dokumenter, Mbak Alia Damaihati.” Marlina said to the applause of the audience, “Congratulations, this festival has been running for 23 years.”
The screening of the four films of the Lanskap program: Constellation of Relations program was followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers present. Following is the summary.
I am interested in the film SIE… (2024). In this film, the director consistently uses the sound of water droplets. Why did you decide to use the sound of water droplets instead of a goat’s sound?
(Yosef) We had a discussion to decide on the sound. We thought that water is a symbol of life. In this film, the dripping sound is shown with a visual video of water droplets, indicating that the water flow has dried up and leaves only droplets.
The Other Daughter (2024) feels like an autoethnography because Fala is telling her own story. How did your mother and grandmother react when the film was finished?
(Fala) Before my mother planned to go to the UK, I had already recorded her daily life and how we interacted. Maybe one of the privileges I have is how my mother and I can openly talk about a problem together. We weren’t close at first, but in the last few years I’ve been able to have an intense dialogue with my mother even though it’s not warm. There have also been some changes from my mother-how she was the first to realize that I had mental problems. When the film was over, I had a video call with her, and she said she was touched. The approach with Grandma is different. In the IDOCLAB program there was a research workshop before shooting, I learned to start recording her. She asked, what do you want to make a film about? I answered, I want to make a video, so that when Mom goes to the UK, we already have a video together. I learned to build a new relationship with my grandmother.
Regarding the letter in the scene of The Other Daughter (2024), why did the director not show the letter explicitly? And how was the process of curating the letters?
(Fala) I did personal censorship because I chose sentences that touched me and could describe my grandmother’s situation at the time. People used to communicate with letters—so a lot of situations were described in letters, like ‘I want to take an exam’, and so on. I chose sentences that represented the situation at the time. In the process of curating the letters, I found a sentence that implied that my grandmother was never happy in her life. I found that in 2019—I wasn’t happy at that time either. At that time, I thought, maybe that’s the reason I’m not happy—my mother was raised by an unhappy person. How can I be happy? That sentence prompted me to ask, where does this unhappiness come from? That courage made me try to dig through the other letters again. My choice fell on a letter that adequately described the condition of my mother and grandmother.
Why is the focus of A Way of Life (2024) on Ello?
(Ifdhal) We decided to talk a lot about Ello because the waya masapi tradition will be continued by him. At the same time, when Ello graduated from high school, Ello also had aspirations to leave Tentena Village. When we were in the process of shooting and editing, we found Ello’s dynamics interesting to include in the film.
(Sur) During the filming process, we saw that Ello’s figure was more interesting to be followed. On the one hand, Ello loves the waya masapi tradition and has a desire to continue the tradition, but on the other hand, Ello has aspirations to see the world.
(Ifdhal) As it turns out, we also found out after the filming process that the inheritor of the waya masapi knowledge, starting from replacing the bamboo, tying the ropes on the fence, is indeed only Ello. At that time we asked, if you leave Tentena, who will continue the waya? They don’t have the same skills as you. That was Ello’s dilemma. This is what is interesting to show in the film.
What were the difficulties in filming Butterfly on a River (2024)?
(Ulfa) The main obstacle was actually the crocodiles. The Mandar River is famous for its many crocodiles. The people there believe that crocodiles are their relatives, while the newly arrived film crew could not just go down to the river. There were several moments where we were forbidden to go down to the river, even though we wanted to catch the moment when Sa’diang went down to the river. At that time, the crocodile was not considered to be in a good mood. We did take pictures of the crocodile, but it was difficult to fit the part into the needs of the film.
Since the film feels very warm and intimate even though it was not produced by the family, how was the relationship between the subject and the director in Butterfly on a River (2024)?
(Ulfa) One day, my feelings were mixed up. I decided to ride my motorcycle, circling the road near the Mandar River, and that’s when I accidentally saw Sa’diang swimming in the Mandar River. I was shocked and curious, how could a woman be so brave in a river with so many crocodiles? I searched, finding out where Sa’diang lived and what her family was like. I had known Sa’diang for several years, but I got the courage to make a film about her last year (2023). The job of passauq wai (water collector) is hereditary and there are several women who also swim in the Mandar River.
After the film is finished, what is the impact on the director?
(Fala) The Other Daughter is my first documentary. We were relieved to finish the film. The impact for me after the film was completed was that I became close to my brother and father after my mother went to the UK. It turns out that documentaries can be a means of care work.
(Fadhilla) After the film was finished, I could finally sleep and felt relieved. The journey of making this film was quite long. There were a lot of conflicts that had to be faced during post-production. The IDOCLAB workshop itself has discussed risk mitigation. At times, the production team was down. However, with the obstacles that existed, we managed to complete this project.
(Yosef) I feel relieved and I thank my friends very much. I lived in Papua for a long time, but because of the film production process, I returned to Maumere and was closer to my garden and parents. After the film production, my mother passed away. For me, this film is an archive for our children and grandchildren.
(Elsyn) When I was putting together the film, I had a headache with the finances. Apparently, it takes two-way cooperation and agreement. The whole crew also had to be disciplined. Initially, we wanted to resign from the IDOCLAB program because we were discouraged. However, from the production of this film, I gained new experiences and collections. We managed to make up our minds to finish this film.
(Ifdhal) As long as I have been producing films, this one has the most enjoyable production process that I have wanted since 2019. And I didn’t expect this kind of production process. Thank you to those who helped us.
(Sur) I feel happy and hopeful for the tradition of waya masapi to survive. We have gone through a long process of learning together, not only Ifdhal and I, but also the whole crew had the opportunity to learn together. Hopefully, Ifdhal and I can continue to work together in the future. Thank you.
(Ulfa) I feel very grateful. When I got to know Sa’diang, his family, and the Mandar River, there was no reason not to make a film about Sa’diang. When I wanted to realize this film, the process was not easy and full of obstacles. We are very grateful, there were so many conflicts that we went through until we could finally reach the premiere night of this film.
(Addas) The production team had to learn Mandarese to be able to communicate with the subject of the film. This is a project that has been running since 2021 and is based on Ulfa’s final project, titled Perempuan Mandar. The medium of this film is water—not far from the word reflection. In making the film, we sometimes had conflicts and forgave each other. Ups and downs to finish this film, even going to a therapist to finish what we had started. Because we feel that the closer we are to the subject of the film, the more we will expect. Sa’diang Harus Pulang (Butterfly on a River, ed.) is our second product. In 2018 we came to Taman Budaya Yogyakarta as an audience, and this year we came as filmmakers.
Many challenges and obstacles were shared by the crews of the four films from the IDOCLAB 2023 workshop—even though they highlighted diverse and different subjects. The production process was dotted with friction. Nonetheless, love and a sense of responsibility for the work that had begun drove the entire production team to complete the project. The screening of Landscape: Constellation of Relations wrapped up with a photoshoot with the audience.
Covered by Tuffahati Athallah on 7 November 2024. (Ed. Vanis/Trans. Naufal Shabri)
