Indonesia Film Weekend

SOAS, 16-18 April 2026, register in this link.

Staging Indonesia in London is a challenging undertaking. On the one hand, there’s widespread public lack of understanding about Indonesia as a whole, which is less well-known than Bali. At best, Indonesia is placed on a foggy mental map called “Southeast Asia,” along with Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, and, again, Bali. Because of this, Indonesia is often introduced through the contexts of tourism, vacations, and exploration, due to the exotic nature and culture of the country as a “faraway place”.

Meanwhile, for some Indonesian diaspora in London, Indonesia often manifests as longing and nostalgia for the calm and comfort of home, and the basis for that nostalgia never truly disappeared. Indonesia is present in food, social interactions, dangdut music, batik motifs, and all other forms of everyday life. Like a memory, Indonesia exists at a relatively safe distance, as a reproduction of the stability of home.

Indonesia Film Weekend aims to address these perceptions through film screenings, featuring films that showcase Indonesia. This could start, for example, with the idea that Indonesia was a key figure in the vibrant Decolonization Movement of the 1950s. This occurred before the 1965 genocide in the country, which not only transformed Indonesia but also inspired ideas for political intervention and violence in countries with strong resistance movements against capitalism (Bevins, 2020).

This film screening aims to provide an “insider’s view” that emerges from aesthetics that are not produced in tourism and diplomatic brochures that ignore domestic realities. These aesthetics are meant to problematize how Indonesia is perceived in other countries by both Indonesians and non-Indonesians. This will be presented through films with marginal themes that don’t appear in and even challenge mainstream Indonesian aesthetics, such as themes of decolonization, LGBTIQ issues, or underground music. They are expected to spark further discussion about Indonesia, one that doesn’t fall into recurring stereotypes.

Indonesia Film Weekend will be held at SOAS, University of London, over three days, beginning on Thursday afternoon, April 16th, and concluding on Saturday afternoon, April 18th, with four screenings. The screening is a collaborative work between SOAS, University of London and marginalia.id, with guest programming by Minikino, Bali.

Venue and date

SOAS University of London, London, 16-18 April 2026.

Detailed programme

Date	Programme	Venue
Thursday, 16 April 2026, 5 pm – 8 pm	Turang + discussion (speakers TBD)	Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre
Friday, 17 April 2026, 5 pm – 7 pm	A Distorted Individual	Khalili Lecture Theatre
Saturday, 18 April 2026, 5 pm – 7 pm	Crocodile Tears	Khalili Lecture Theatre
Saturday, 18 April 2026, 7 pm – 9 pm	Indonesia, In Between – Short Indonesian film programme curated by Minikino	Khalili Lecture Theatre

Film synopsis

Turang (Bachtiar Siagian, 1957, 87 minutes) + discussion

Leftist filmmaker Bachtiar Siagian’s long-lost film Turang is one of several post-independence Indonesian films depicting the independence struggle against the Dutch. Unlike other films that mostly centre on the military sphere, this film highlights the crucial role of ordinary people in liberation struggles. Set in an indigenous Karo community, the film depicts, in neorealist style, the people’s land, traditions, and unwavering determination for freedom. The film shows the ordinary lives of the villagers, their genuine solidarity with the freedom fighters, a blossoming romance between Tipi and Rusli, and the difficulties brought about by the raids of the Dutch army.

Discussion: Impact of 1965 genocide to the critical thinking in Indonesia.

Speakers: TBD

A Distorted Individual (Adythia Utama, 2025, 94 minutes)

Individual Distortion, a lesser-known underground musician who has struggled with limited recognition in the music scene for over a decade, embarks on an ambitious journey to achieve the ultimate dream of securing the most prestigious music award in his country.

! Content warning: coarse language, flickering images/light.

Crocodile Tears (Tumpal Tampubolon, 2025, 98 minutes)

Johan, on the cusp of manhood, lives alone with his Mama on a crocodile farm in West Java. Mother and son live in voluntary exile with only a white crocodile as their confidant. Their life of isolation is disrupted when Johan falls for a girl in town, Arumi, setting off a chain of events that threatens the delicate balance of their lives. As the fabric of their world unravels, Mama’s opposition manifests in increasingly bizarre ways.

! Content warning: disturbing images.

Indonesia, In Between, short Indonesian film programme curated by Minikino (92 minutes)

The films in this programme open a conversation within the intimate space between generations, radiating love in the air, through friendship, family, identity, belief, and expectation. Breaking the silence of queer voices and dreams of a better nation appear as acts of gentle rebellion, reclaiming bodies and identities once defined by others. The hope for change sometimes begins with listening and noticing what was left unsaid. Beyond postcolonial and transitional identities, it becomes a conscious choice to carry new values into the future. It is a redefinition of what family, faith, and freedom can mean.