DE, IDN 2012 | Director: Children of Srikandi Collective (Yulia Dwi Andriyanti, Laura Coppens, Hera Danish, Eggie Dian, Angelika Levi, Stea Lim, Imelda Taurina Mandala, Afank Mariani, Oji, Winnie Wibowo | Camera: Angelika Levi, Oji, Faozan Rizal | Editor: Angelika Levi | Music: Yacko, Jean-Philippe Coppens | Production: Laura Coppens, Angelika Levi | Colour | DCP | 73 min | indonesian OV with english SUB | Srikandi Films, Celestefilm
A little girl dreamt to be a boy. A bench becomes home and life witness. A house does not feel like home anymore. A veil makes you reflect about religion and sexuality. A verse of a poem is like a day in your life. A Love can be in between. A female stereotype can be deconstructed. A label can be changed.
These moving stories are interwoven with the tale of Srikandi that serves as the framework plot. Srikandi is an ancient mythological character of the Mahabharata, a well-known Indian epic. Even today Srikandi is still frequently used in the traditional Javanese shadow puppet theatre plays (wayang kulit). Srikandi is neither man nor women, fluently moving between both genders. Falling in love with a woman she has to understand that the only way to survive is to become a “female warrior”. Her story reminds us that same-sex love and gender variety were not imported from the West but in fact form a deep and ancient aspect of Indonesian society.
All started with a workshop. The idea was to collaborate on a film project that reflects on the participant’s lived experiences as queer women in Indonesia and at the same time provides them with the means for filmic self-representation. They were introduced to creative story telling and basic sound and camera operation. Over a period of two years the filmmaking became a true collective act. (Laura Coppens, Angelika Levi, 2012)
| Acronyms | |
|---|---|
| amer. | American English |
| b/w | Black and white |
| OV | Original version |
| SUB | Subtitles |
| +SUB | electronic live subtitling (below the image) |
| INT | Intertitles |
| Countries | |
|---|---|
| AT | Austria |
| FRG | Federal Republic of Germany (historic) |
| BLR | Belarus |
| DE | Germany |
| CAN | Canada |
| GDR | German Democratic Republic (historic) |
| EGY | Egypt |
| FR | France |
| GB | Great Britain |
| URY | Uruguay |
| BRA | Brasil |
| SWE | Sweden |
| UKR | Ukraine |
| PL | Poland |
| IDN | Indonesia |
| PRT | Portugal |
| HRV | Croatia |
| ECU | Ecuador |
| HUN | Hungary |
| AUS | Australia |
| IT | Italy |
| MEX | Mexico |
| IND | India |
Followed by a conversation with the members of the film collective: Angelika Levi, Imelda Taurina Mandala, Eggie Dian. Moderated by Lisabona Rahman
Angelika Levi is a Berlin based filmmaker. Her work is shown at international film festivals, cinemas and exhibitions. Her short film Faust aufs Auge (1988) won the No Budget Video Prize Hamburg, and Desiree & Polylepis (1994) was rated “high quality” by the German Film Classification Board in Wiesbaden. MY LIFE PART 2, her first full-length documentary, won several awards and had its premiere at the Forum/International Berlin Film Festival 2003. Her essay film ABSENT PRESENT (2010) had its Premiere at The Women´s Film Festival in Barcelona. Children of Srikandi had its Premiere at the Panorama/ international Berlin Film Festival 2012 and won also several awards. MIETE ESSEN SEELE AUF (Rent eats the soul) was shown as a 3-channel film installation in the exhibition "Housing Question" in "Haus der Kulturen der Welt" in Berlin 2015. Levi is working also as an editor and dramaturgic advisor. Her film AHORITA FRAMES premiered at the 71st Berlinale in Forum Expanded in 2021.
Lisabona Rahman studied film preservation and presentation. She creates performative lectures and screenings of archival films. Her approach comes from intersecting interests on cinema practice and history in post-colonial societies, transnational networks and women's work. Lisabona actively takes part in the circulation of knowledge among feminists, especially around the Nusantara archipelago. She is a member of Kelas Liarsip virtual study group for feminist film history and co-founder of translocal School of Women’s Thoughts.
Imelda Taurina Mandala was born and grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. Since 2014 work and live in Berlin, Germany. Imel joined kelas liarsip in 2020. kelas liarsip is a virtual study group that focuses on film archive studies, restoration and the history of women in Indonesian cinema. When not busy working in kitchen, Imel loves to hang out with friends and kitty cat. Some of Imel favourite films are THE WATERMELON WOMAN by Cheryl Dunye, MEIN LEBEN TEIL 2 by Angelika Levi, TALE OF THE THREE JEWELS by Michel Khleifi.
