Yogyakarta, 14 November 2022 – The 2022 Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD) was officially opened to the public on 14 November 2022 at the former Permata Cinema Building, Yogyakarta. This year’s FFD event was held offline; after the previous two years, it was held online and hybrid due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The former Permata Cinema building is the main venue for this year’s FFD.
FFD is the first public event at Gedung ex Bioskop Permata after being declared permanently closed on 1 August 2010. An exhibition of the documentary film “Maaf, Bioskop Tutup” (Ardi Wilda Wirawan, 2010) was screened non-stop and repeatedly at the venue as a form of celebration of the revival of the former Permata Cinema Building. This film tells about the romanticism of Permata Cinema before it was finally closed to the public, which shows the nostalgic romanticism of Permata Cinema and was also held to enliven the “revival” of this building.
The opening began with a performance by Bagus Dwi Danto, a musician from Yogyakarta who sang three of his songs. Then, the event continued with a speech from Kurnia Yudha, Director of the Forum Dokumenter. He thanked those who had contributed and enlivened this festival. “In 2022, Festival Film Dokumenter or FFD restarts the festival as it used to be, or colloquially, is held offline. We chose this format to mark our journey in recovering from the pandemic. The longing to meet colleagues, engage in face-to-face conversation, and experience film festivals will be accommodated this year,” he said. “It is hoped that the spirit of experimenting and making efforts to reactivate this space can inspire all filmmakers and those involved, especially documentary media,” he added.
The following speech was delivered by Francois Dabin, Director of IFI Yogyakarta. He supports the FFD event, which has been running for 21 years. “FFD is an associate and partner of IFI, which will later show films in Virtual Reality. This can be a gateway to explore different documentary forms,” he said.
In line with the remarks from the Director of IFI Yogyakarta, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, represented by Edi Suwadi, expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Festival Film Dokumenter, which continues to exist as a space for exhibition and appreciation of documentary films, especially from Indonesian filmmakers. “The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology appreciates this activity, even from two years ago we have been here, as well as supporting this activity. Hopefully, this festival will continue and increase in quality and quantity.”, he said. He also expressed his appreciation for using the space of the ex-Bioskop Permata as an alternative playroom, “Using this old cinema shows that our cinemas, especially in Yogyakarta, are starting to get back on their feet. Hopefully, this shows the revival of film in Indonesia,” he added.
Alia Damaihati, Program Director of the FFD 2022, explained a series of programs in the festival that will last for a week. She also explained the background of the selection of the opening short film for this year’s festival. “Every year, we encounter different challenges and complexities in the film selection process, and each film has its challenges and strengths. In certain contexts, we believe that film and space can test each other,” she explained. “Departing from the idea and a paradox of -incompleteness-, both in film, space, and the situation we are facing, we found many interesting discussions about how incompleteness is a gap that has existed in various films for audiences in various spaces,” Alia added.
The opening night of FFD 2022 was attended by invited guests and judges from various countries. From Vivian Idris from the Badan Perfilman Indonesia to Makiko Wakai from Japan’s Yamagata International Film Festival, Phillip Cheah, a film curator from Singapore, to Jewel Maranan, a filmmaker and program director at the Daang Dokyu Festival, Philippines.
Fantasmagoría (2020), directed by Juan Francisco González was screened to mark the start of this year’s FFD event. This 15-minute film from Chile describes industrialization’s state and influence on the Atacama desert landscape presented in an experimental style and form. Through Fantasmagoría (2020), we are invited to look at the caliche mine, Maria Elena, which has been abandoned for a long time. Through the narrative of a nitrate miner who used to work there, we are invited to explore the mining area; reflect on the stories that evaporate through the inanimate objects there. Relive the abandoned feelings through ghosts who tell life stories. In addition to being screened as the opening film, Fantasmagoría (2020) will be re-aired in the Spektrum program of FFD 2022.
From 15 to 19 November 2022, audiences can watch 57 selected documentaries from 18 different countries. From Indonesia, at least 8 provinces are involved in sending works in this year’s FFD. These documentaries will be screened in three places: the Gedung ex Bioskop Permata, Bioskop Sonobudoyo, and IFI-LIP Yogyakarta. The films are divided into competition and non-competition programs. Some of these titles have sailed and screened at various international film festivals. They have become nominations for the Festival Film Indonesia for documentary categories such as Segudang Wajah Para Penantang Masa Depan (Yuki Aditya, I Gde Mika, 2022), A Letter to The Future (Kurnia Yudha F., 2021), to Roda-Roda Nada (Yuda Kurniawan, 2022).
The film programs included in this year’s FFD consist of two types: Competition Programs and Non-Competition Programs. The Competition Program covers four branches: International Feature-Length Documentary Competition, Indonesia Feature-Length Documentary Competition, Short Documentary Competition, and Student Documentary Competition. Meanwhile, the Non-Competition Program itself consists of three series of agendas, including Perspektif (talking about collective memory), Lanskap (discussion on the diversity of Indonesian documentaries), and Spektrum (questions about exploring the form of a documentary film).
In addition to the film program, this year, FFD will also present a series of activities related to other documentaries, which are DOCTALK and DOC Forum. DOCTALK is a panel discussion and presentation program on developments in film practice and the documentary ecosystem. This program is open to the public without an entrance fee and can be participated by registering at the venue.
In line with the DOCTALK program, FFD 2022 also organizes the DOC Forum, an intensive workshop focusing on knowledge development, medium practice, network, and space activation through documentary media. The DOC Forum will be held during the festival and will be attended by a limited number of representatives of the documentary film community from several regions in Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke, from Aceh Documentary to Papuan Voices.
Festival Film Dokumenter 2022 is brought to you by the Forum Film Dokumenter. The entire festival activity can be accessed free of charge. Tickets are available on the spot (OTS) at each venue, starting at 12.00 WIB. Information on films, schedules, and venues can be accessed via the website www.ffd.or.id or social media @ffdjogja.
