The Seventh One
A documentary follows this year's divisive elections seen through the eyes of ordinary people across Indonesia.
Seventeen Indonesian journalists have collaborated to create a documentary of what turned out to be the most divisive general election in the history of the country.
Produced by WatchdoC production house, this 88-minute film titled “Yang Ketu7uh (The Seventh One)” focuses on three people coming from different regions in Indonesia who struggle with poverty working as farmer, construction worker and launderer.
“We recorded their daily lives and struggle amid the setting of the general election,” said co-director Hellena Yoranita Souisa, who works with director Dandhy Dwi Laksono.
In an interview through e-mail, Hellena said the journalists captured the historical moments from the legislative election in April to the announcement of the presidential election on July 22, and saw them through the eyes of the laymen. The pictures were taken in Jakarta; Indramayu and Tangerang, West Java; Ende, East Nusa Tenggara; Samarinda, East Kalimantan; and Jayapura in Papua.
The film will be premiered on Saturday, Aug. 16 or a day before the Independence Day, screened for free in the outdoor setting of Fatahillah Museum in Kota area, West Jakarta.
“Because the spirit of the election should be the party of people, we return this film to the people through the event Layar Merdeka (Freedom Screen). It is open for public for free,” said Hellena.
The filmmakers, she said, were working on the most suitable distribution system for the documentary.
“It could be screened as layar tancap (outdoor movie screening) in other cities in the country, or maybe in movie theaters. But for sure, as with WatchdoC tradition, we will upload it to YouTube so anybody could enjoy it,” Hellena said.
Established in 2009, WatchdoC produces independent documentary film every year that is dedicated to educate viewers and widen their horizons. Its 2012 film, “Alkinemokiye” – about the struggle of workers and retirees of mining company Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua – has been screened in four countries and eight cities in Europe, and has been watched over 21,000 times on YouTube.
