Indonesia Study Group: Abstracts

April 29 2009
Seminar Room B (Arndt Room)

Filming Ambiguity: To be ‘Chinese’ Through the Eyes of Young Chinese Indonesian Filmmakers
Charlotte Setijadi-Dunn (Southeast Asia Centre, La Trobe University)

After more than three decades of suppression under the New Order, Chinese Indonesians can now express Chinese traditions and cultures in public spaces without official prohibition. However, despite recent improvements in their legal and social status, many Chinese Indonesians still feel anxious of the fact that a lot of past injustices have remained unquestioned. Recently, some young Chinese Indonesian filmmakers have attempted to engage these issues of trauma and former oppressions through an array of cinematic explorations. In this paper, I look at this new breed of young Chinese Indonesian film directors who explore timely issues concerning what it means to be Chinese in contemporary Indonesia through their filmmaking. In particular, I examine three feature and short films: Sugiharti Halim (a film based on a fictional character of the same name by Ariani Darmawan, 2008), Babi Buta Yang Ingin Terbang (‘The Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly’ by Edwin, 2008), and Letter of Unprotected Memories (by Lucky Kuswandi, 2008). I discuss the ways in which these young Chinese filmmakers describe the challenges and stigmas associated with growing up as ‘Chinese’ in New Order and post-Suharto Indonesia. I argue that through their films, we gain valuable insights into rarely exposed viewpoints, namely how younger generation Chinese negotiate their ethnic identity, their history, and their place in a rapidly changing Indonesia.