Updates
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,…
Festival Strategy, Curatorial Work, and Their Interplay
The Curatorship & Context: Strategy of Festival & Networking panel session was held at Pascasarjana…
Teka-teki Sinema Film Programming Workshop 2025 Has Been Conducted
The first edition of Teka-teki Sinema film programming workshop has officially wrapped up. The workshop…
Index
Calls from Moscow (2023): Faint Hope on a Vulnerable Back
Read articleContent warning: The film in this review contains material that may be triggering. Viewer discretion advised. For some, to seek fortune is to challenge miracles. Four queer migrants from Cuba…
The Pasha, my mother and I (2023): The Search for One’s “Legacy”
Read article“I think your mother is now considered as the Cemil Pasha family’s last samurai, fighting for the Kurdish movement.” We’ve all heard the saying that mothers are the unsung heroes…
Proof (2019): A Thought-Evoking, Exemplary Tale of Women Against the World
Read articleContent warning: This review contains material that may be triggering. Reader discretion advised. “At last we have a son, thanks to you!”, says a man to Mandeep, a doctor who…
Tedious Days and Nights (2023): Stumbling upon the Frozen Past
Read articleWhat are you thinking about growing old? Is it a depiction of weakness, ugliness, or even uselessness? Perhaps, the fear and worry of old age is a horror for some…
Monisme (2023): Obtrusiveness Loud Magic Tale
Read articleMerapi is not merely any natural landscape attraction, it is a space and time. Monisme (Riar Rizaldi, 2023) takes us on an in-depth journey into the magic of Mount Merapi…
The Maestrat on Film (2022): Audiovisual Archive and What it Follows
Read articleAudiovisual archives are the perfect medium to revisit fragments of the past. Perhaps we can look at pictures, paintings, or photographs to see the visualization of events that once occurred.…
Wa’anak Witu Watu (2021): The Neglected Breath of Life
Read articleA solid and inanimate object without any significance. That may be the line some of us use to describe stones. However, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, there are stories and mysteries…
Laboratory No 2 (2021): Death is A Form of Courage
Read articleInstead of presenting us the concept that death is the end of everything, Laboratory No 2 (Edris Abdi, Awara Omer Saeed, 2021) tries to give us their contradictory two cents.…
Onlookers (2023): Perhaps, We’re The Observers Too
Read articleWhy do we travel? What are we really looking for in our travels? Onlookers (Kimi Takesue, 2023) takes us on a mesmerizing journey through the landscape and daily life in…
The Book of Life… (2023): The Tales of and from Family
Read articleSearching, letting go, and persevering are the three-act narratives told in The Book of Life and Three Stories about Women and the Unseen in the Midst of the Pandemic (Ismail…
Murdijati Gardjito (2023): Preserving Food Security through Gastronomy Legacy
Read articleFood security is an important element of national resilience. Without good quality foods, easy access and sufficient stock, a nation will weaken and slowly lose its identity. Food is a…
The Exiles (2022): A Long Way Home, Could We Return?
Read articleThey were merely students when the government sent them out to pursue education abroad. An experience expected to bear good results instead left them estranged, cast out, and unrecognized by…
One Big Sumba Family (2022): A Fly-in-the-Wall Look into One Super-Sized Sumba Family
Read article12 wives, 52 children, 220 grandchildren, 1 husband. That is the sheer size of MD Raya’s household in the aptly-named One Big Sumba Family (Tonny Trimarsanto, 2022). The film focuses…
A River in the Middle of the Sky (2023): Capturing Toraja from the Eyes of Victor Konda
Read articleFor Victor Konda, having a troubled vision doesn’t stop him from finding a vision of those closest to him. Using camera lenses, he dives into the meaning of his life…
Sailum: Song of the Rustling Leaves (2023): Peaceful Embrace of the Wine Palm Trees
Read articleThe people of Atoin Meto have always relied on wine palm trees for their livelihood. It holds the power to give life and take it right back. Sailum: Song of…
