If you’re interested in unique documentaries about Jakarta and Indonesia, then a trip to the Goethe-Institute this evening should probably be on your agenda. The German cultural center will be hosting the world premiere of “Trilogi Jawa” (Javanese Trilogy), a series of documentaries taking place on the island of Java by Austrian filmmaker Ascan Breuer.
The first and longest film in the trilogy is “Jakarta Disorder,” is especially relevant right now because it traces the development of Indonesian civil society which allowed Joko Widodo to become president.
The other two films in the trilogy, “Riding My Tiger” and “Paradise Later,” are shorter works. “Riding My Tiger” explores superstition and myth to create what Breuer calls “a magical documentary,” while “Paradise Later” takes a look at the cost of Jakarta’s rapid development.
For more information on the movies, you can read the complete synopsis for each below the line.
The screening of all three films begins at 6pm and admission is free.
Goethe-Institut Indonesien, Jl. Sam Ratulangi No. 9-15, Menteng, Jakarta, Indonesia 10350
Facebook event page
TRILOGI JAWA (Javanese Trilogy)
> JAKARTA DISORDER (2013, 88 min)
> RIDING MY TIGER (2014, 42 min)
> PARADISE LATER (2010, 14 min)
1 – JAKARTA DISORDER
Over several years JAKARTA DISORDER observes the development of the Indonesian civil society which leads to the election of Joko Widodo as the country’s new president. The documentary tells the story of two courageous women in Jakarta who fight for the participation of the urban poor in the young democracy. The rapidly growing housing development leads to the displacement of many traditional living quarters. Together with their friends, the two women decide to fight against this injustice and to engage in the currently running presidential elections.
With: Wardah Hafidz and UPC–Urban Poor Consortium
www.facebook.com/JakartaDisorder
2 – RIDING MY TIGER
In his most recent film, RIDING MY TIGER (2014, 42 min), the filmmaker Ascan Breuer searches for the spirit of a tiger said to have haunted the house of his ancestors on Java. Locating this spirit is no easy matter, as it must be summoned in a respectful manner. A number of stories have grown around it, personified as the family´s grandfather, as the ghost of an old man who resides in the garden and finishes off thieves and poor craftsmen. It also recalls the resistance against Dutch colonialism and the conflicts that played out during the Cold War. By using the old art of Javanese shadow puppetry, Wayang Kulit, Breuer creates a new genre of documentary: a “magical documentary”. With: Dalang Tardjono Wignyopranoto, Banyumas.
www.facebook.com/RidingMyTiger
3 – PARADISE LATER
The Short-Film PARADISE LATER (2010, 14 min), which already premiered at Berlinale 2010, addresses the side-effects of the fast development of the Megacity Jakarta: In the outskirts and the spaces “in between” of a rapidly expanding metropolis, the film shows the people who are living in profound poverty and subsist on the refuse of an expanding consumer society. With: Martin Aleida, speaker.
It is these topics of extreme relevance that Ascan Breuer addresses in his works: How do marginalized and poor people survive in the middle of the highspeed-modernisation, even though they don’t participate in it? How do they make their lives livable? Which possibilities do they have for their own emancipation? How do they organize themselves? And which role do traditions and myths play in a society that is ever more rapidly pushing towards modernity? His films are also a search for his own roots in the home-country of his mother: Indonesia.
