The ReelOzInd! Australia-Indonesia Short Film Festival 2022 has premiered with successful launches in both Melbourne, Australia and Malang, Indonesia, debuting alongside an online festival and ongoing pop-up events that showcase 10 short films from both countries.
Short film buffs are encouraged to watch the entire festival program via ReelOzInd! and the Australia-Indonesia Centre’s YouTube channel. Viewers can also vote for their favourite from the 25 films shortlisted for 2022. Voting ends at 11.59 pm WIB on 1 December 2022.
This year’s shortlisted films were selected from a pool of over 170 entries, each focused around the theme ‘suara/voice’.
“This year our festival attracted entries of very high quality across all the categories – fiction, documentary and animation – with a strong response to this year’s theme ‘suara/voice’,” said festival director Jemma Purdey.
“There are powerful stories from people on the margins of their communities, who are not often heard; and journeys of discovery, touching on loss, friendship and love that remind us of the common threads that bind us across our different cultures, nations and languages,” she continued.
A Rojingya’s Journey, a story of a Rohingya refugee named Sajeda now living in Australia, was awarded Best Film and Best Documentary at this year’s festival.
“It just took one meeting with Sajeda for me to realise she’s quite a remarkable lady,” director Ed Coney said of his film during a recorded Q&A session that is viewable as part of the festival’s online and pop-up programs and through the AIC In Conversation podcast.
“When I asked her why she wanted to tell the story, she really wanted more people to hear about the struggle that Rohingya people are going through, and just spread that message so that more people can understand what it’s like for them,” Coney continued. “[I] wanted to help tell that story for her.”
In a similar vein, Annisa Adjam’s My Clouded Mind is a fictionalised account of the toll that online, gender-based violence can take on a young person.
“There was an enormous increase in online gender-based violence cases – like 400% compared to the previous year, before the pandemic,” producer and writer Annisa told festival director Jemma Purdey.
The film, a co-winner in the Best Animated category, began life as a documentary before transitioning into a fictitious, animated tale.
“The movie itself could be a friend; a hotline for people who watch it,” Annisa said of the change. “In my experience, we don’t even know we are experiencing a toxic relationship or online gender-based violence in the moment.
“I wondered if someone could just watch it and realise they were experiencing the same.”
Wonderfully Made, another co-winner for Best Animation, is a beautifully illustrated tale that focuses on the insecurities a child can have.
“It’s a little bit of a personal narrative; when I was a child I had a lot of physical insecurities that, reflecting now as an adult, were actually about my identity,” said writer, director and producer Joseph Hoh. “Not really wanting to accept myself for wanting to fit in and be something that maybe I wasn’t made to be.
“I thought, ‘how can I communicate this truth of intrinsic worth and value intrinsic beauty that’s just in our humanity in a way that’s just visually simple but engaging; that a child could understand?’”
Hoh also joined Roro Sawita (In the Solitude of Longing) alongside judge Alex von Hofmann and Movie Metropolis’ Peter Krausz for a live question and answer session following the Melbourne premiere.
Celebrating its seventh year, the ReelOzInd! Australia-Indonesia short film festival would not be possible without the support of its 2022 festival partners Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Negeri Malang and Blueboat, community partners AIYA, and media partners FilmFreeway, Inside Indonesia and Viddsee.
ReelOzInd! 2022 award-winning and shortlisted films
The following films were announced as shortlisted or winning entries during this year’s festival:
Best Fiction
Winner
The Scent of Rat Carcasses | Dharma Putra Purna Nugraha (director/writer) | Yuh Rohana Meliala (producer) | Indonesia | 2021 | All Ages | 8:56
Shortlisted films
Kencan (A Date) | Leonardus Jalu Fernada (director) | Elvina Kurniawan (producer) | Indonesia | 2020 | All Ages | 9:33
Berdoa, Mulai (Pray, Begin) | Tanzilal Azizie Rachim (director/writer) | Muslikha Ayu (producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 10:00
@ItsDekRaaa | I Made Suarbawa (director/writer | Yurika Dewi & Nirartha Bas Diwangkara (writers) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages
UNALOME | Edy Wibowo (director/writer) | Arief Akhmad Yani (producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 9:17
Melati di Tapal Batas (A Voice from the Boundaries) | Magung Budiman (director/writer/producer) | Zhaddam Aldhy Nurdin (producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | PG | 6:50
Best Documentary
Winner
A Rohingya’s Journey | Ed Coney (director) | Australia | 2022 | PG | 8:20
Shortlisted films
Sang Penakluk Ombak (Returning to the Sea) | Leonardus Jalu Fernada (director/writer) | Bagus Darma Putra (producer) | Indonesia | 2021 | All Ages | 9:21
Di Kala Sepi Mendamba (In the Solitude of Longing) | Anak Agung Gde Hadhi Kusuma (director/producer) | Indonesia | 2021 | PG | 9:08
What I Know Now | Lauren Hunter (director) | Australia | 2021 | PG | 4:21
Lelah Demi Banyak Nyawa (Tired for Many Lives) | Ratih Puspandari (director) | Berliana Endah KS (writer) | Rina Ardita Pebriani (producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 2:58
spatiohumanism | Moses Parlindungan Ompusunggu (director/writer) | Kirmizi (producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 4:42
Forgotten Harmony | Yuda Febrian Silitonga (director/writer/producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 5:00
Best Animation
Co-winners
Wonderfully Made | Joseph Hoh (director/writer/producer) | Australia | 2022 | All Ages | 6:47
My Clouded Mind | Annisa Adjam (director/ producer) | Citra Benazir (writer) | Calita Hin (producer) | Indonesia | 2021 | PG | 10:00
Shortlisted films
Painting by Numbers | Radheya Jegatheva (director/writer) | Matt Hearn and Jay Jay Jegathesan (producers) | Australia | 2021 | All Ages | 4:23
Camp Dog | Reid McManus (director) | King Stingray (music) | Australia | 2022 | All Ages | 3:36
Anak-Anak Milenial (The Millennial Kids) | Nirartha Bas Diwangkara (director/producer) | Indonesia | 2022 | All Ages | 7:02
NUSA ANTARA (The Archipelago) | Azalia Muchransyah (director) | Firman Wijasma (director/producer) | Indonesia | 2021 | All Ages | 7:08
Best by Youth Filmmaker (aged 13-18 years)
Winner, Jim Schiller Prize
Siwul (Whistle) | Nabiel Ghithrif (director) | Ihsan Anwar (writer) | Putri Sabila & Fadhel Muhammad | Indonesia | 2021 | All Ages | 8:46
Shortlisted films
The Ferocious Beast | Jack Danger Barrett (director/writer/producer) | Charlie McGovern (producer) | Australia | 2021 | All Ages | 3:28
Pop-Up | Tanika Jones (director) | Australia | 2021 | All Ages | 2:43
Downpour of Disappointment | Karena Darwen (director) | Australia | 2021 | All Ages | 1:05
Coffee: The Drug that Never Sleeps | Jack Danger Barrett (director) | Australia | 2022 | All Ages | 3:27
Strings | Markello Souvlis (director) | Australia | 2021 | All Ages | 4:41
