In the film The Red Egg (Ivonne Kani, 2025), the age-old question of chicken or egg serves as a compass for reading the tension between a family’s cultural tradition that demands sustainability and women’s bodies that yearn for sovereignty. Ivonne, the writer, director, and protagonist of this documentary, compiles an autoethnography of her Chinese-Indonesian family archives. From childhood birthday photos to her grandmother’s 91st birthday celebration, the red egg remains the main character in this collage.
Throughout the film, the only red object is the egg, which is kept red as it is. Meanwhile, other objects are monochromic. The focus on color becomes the focus of the discourse. This visual contrast reignites the chicken-or-egg paradox on an intimate scale. In the family album, the “chicken” can be interpreted as lineage and tradition, which always seem to come first. Women are defined by their ability to continue the family story through reproduction. However, Ivonne’s camera shifts the order to the “egg” first. It is a women’s agency that creates the meaning of family.
The red egg in The Red Egg (2025) also challenges the meaning of legacy. From a prayer for childbirth, longevity, and continuity, it becomes a marker of time and the vulnerability of the female body. When the red egg moves from one celebration to another, it is no longer just a token of happiness. It has become a reminder of the clock that keeps ticking, not only on the family calendar, but also on its biological calendar. The Red Egg (2025) skillfully constructs the distance between tradition and the body, allowing the audience to feel the tension between them.
Tradition is preserved, but the right to interpret time and the body returns to its rightful owner. Like an egg whose shell is broken from within, this documentary opens up a space for women’s experiences to “hatch” of their own free will. So, which came first, the egg or the chicken? (Hesty N. Tyas) (Ed/Trans. Vanis)
Detail Film
The Red Egg
Ivonne Kani | 4 min | 2025 | Banten
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Festival Film Dokumenter 2025
