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Film Review
It Is Not So Much That the Artifacts Are Mute, as That We Are Deaf
Huaqueo is a practice of gravedigging to obtain pre-Columbian artifacts. The people who practice are…
Directing Film, Directing Life
I am 25, a woman still navigating my own “film”: messy, uncertain, full of detours,…
Cleanliness is Part of Faith, They Say
“Cleanliness is part of faith.” That dogmatic proverb has long been internalised into the bodies…
The Sound from Migrant Workers in the Park
A couple sits across from each other in a park. They share questions and stories…
Tracing Memory through the Things in a Room
A while ago, I found myself in my rented room, repacking my belongings and preparing…
To the Inevitable Death, I Love You
The tight grip of two elderly couples reading a book loosens as they turn the…
Highlight
A Black-and-White Film about the Colorful Life of Individual Distortion
The screening of A DISTORTED INDIVIDUAL. (Adythia Utama, 2025) was held for the first time…
Challenging a Single Historical Narrative through Archives and Art
On a bright afternoon, Cemeti–Institute for Art and Society–grew ever more alive with visitors. On…
Photography, Cinema, and the Liminal Space Between Them
DOC Talk’s session, “Foto: Ruang-Waktu Sinema” (lit. Photo: Cinema Space-Time), held at Langgeng Art Foundation…
The Grand Transversal Process of La Casa Grande
On 24 November 2025, the screening of Short Competition was held at Kedai Kebun Forum,…
Outreach Activities of filmdokumenter.id: Bridging Education and Documentary Films
In the first quarter of 2025, Forum Film Dokumenter Database Program team organized a series…
Festival Strategy, Curatorial Work, and Their Interplay
The Curatorship & Context: Strategy of Festival & Networking panel session was held at Pascasarjana…
Index
ANHELL69 (2022): Footages of the Remnants of a Dreamed Life
Read article“I didn’t decide to be born, I never asked.” With a shot of a coffin containing a corpse, ANHELL69 (Theo Montoya, 2022) opens with the above narration. The sentence represents…
No Exorcism Film (2024): I Suffered So Much
Read article“How do we measure Thainnes?” This string of words from a set of light boards seems to form a solid sentence serving as an essential question that drives the narrative…
K-Family Affairs (2023): Daughter of Democracy
Read articleWhat is the typical birthday gift that parents give to their daughters? Probably a cake, a big stuffed panda, or a pretty dress. However, this is not the case with…
City of Poets (2024): A Place Once Full of Poetry and Serenity
Read articleImagine all the people, living life in peace… These lyrics from John Lennon came to mind while watching City of Poets (Sara Rajaei, 2024). Lennon dreamed of a world without…
Behind Closed Doors (2023): (Re)presenting Past Distortions of the Truth to Set the Record Straight in the Present
Read articleA piece on a harrowing era in Brazil’s history, Behind Closed Doors (João Pedro Bim, 2023) is one of a particular importance in a contentious time in the country’s politics.…
I WAS THERE, PART II (2024): STILL AMONG THE RUINS OF HIROSHIMA
Read articleChi Jang Yin, the director, writer, and producer of I WAS THERE trilogy echoes the collective memory of the effects and trauma of the Hiroshima bombing through her second experimental…
Big Bang Henda (2023): Bursting Free with Henda
Read articleHave you ever visited or witnessed a solo performance of contemporary art? Big Bang Henda (Fernanda Polacow, 2023) offers a similar experience in the form of a documentary film. Director…
14 Paintings (2023): Paintings, Replicas, and Commodification
Read articleDafen Urban Village in Shenzhen, China is known as an art village and the epicenter of painting reproduction in China. Dafen’s identity as an art village has allowed it to…
Under the Moonlight (2023): Love in the Shadow of Threat
Read articleLet me add a slight personal touch to this review. This is the author’s fourth year writing for Festival Film Dokumenter (FFD). When asked why I keep coming back to…
Here We Are (2023): Diving Into History Through a Mother’s Tale
Read articleHere We Are (Chanasorn Chaikitiporn, 2023) invites the audience to explore the relationship between Thailand’s past and present. The film blends archival footage from the Cold War era with modern…
A Tale for My Daughter (2024): A Letter from Mother Earth
Read articleLet’s begin this piece by reflecting on the film Siti (Eddie Cahyono, 2014), which takes us on a deep contemplation of humanity’s relationship with nature. There, a sentence is uttered:…
Ibnu Nurwanto – The Wood (2024): To (And Through) His Wooden Statue, Ibnu Telling a Story
Read article“Ibnu is Ibnu. That’s it. He is a sculptor, not a man who makes sculptures and he does not accept any sculpture orders or take orders to make sculptures. Ibnu…
Afterlives (2024): Ghosts of the Past That Run through the Unconscious
Read articleGhosts of the past roam through the corners of our memories. These ghosts burst into consciousness and spread throughout the bodies of jathilan (traditional dance using horses made from woven…
A Journey of Island People (2024): Traces of Colonialism in the Surface of Panggang Island’s Corals
Read articleWhat caught the eye of Panggang Island today? A chain of islands in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Island ed.) is getting denser and denser. People outside the island come and go…
What Did You See… (2023): Hidden Memory in a Photograph
Read articlePhotographs are not just a medium to capture moments, but also to preserve memories and shape a narrative that can be distorted. Director Mahardika Yudha conveys this in his 10-minute…
