GARIN NUGROHO
DIRECTOR & WRITER
A pioneer of New Indonesian cinema, Garin Nugroho works across film and live performance, negotiating the complexities of his country and culture through diverse filmmaking styles and artistic disciplines. His works range across film such as short films, ads, music videos, documentaries, theatre, performance art and art installations. Garin has also been a founder of several festivals, such as Jogja Asia Netpact Film Festival (JAFF).
Garin is a recipient of various international awards: Order of Arts and Letters from France, Stella D’Italia Cavaliere from Italy, Honourary Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, Lifetime Achievement Award from Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival and many more.
Garin is considered the pioneer of a new generation of avant- garde filmmakers, post-1990. Aside from creating works, he is an author, founder of film and art festivals, and has also established an NGO for democracy. Also known as a cultural expert and practitioner, he made internationally acclaimed films like Opera Jawa (Requiem from Java, 2006) and Setan Jawa (2016) with strong cultural identities.
I WAYAN SUDIRANA
COMPOSER
I Wayan Sudirana is a composer and ethnomusicologist who graduated from the University of British Columbia, Canada. He studied Bali’s ancient music along with world musical traditions, such as Pungmul and Samulnori music from Korea, drumming ensembles from Ghana, West Africa, South Indian drumming, and Western classical music. With this experience, he developed his music with a strong foundation to find a new identity and music for gamelan. Now, Sudirana is active as an Associate Professor in Music at Postgraduate Study Programme ISI Denpasar, as well as being the founder and owner of the Gamelan Yuganada community.
KASIMYN (ADITYA SURYA TARUNA)
COMPOSER
Kasimyn, is a music producer, DJ, music researcher and visual artist based in Bali. Having studied graphic design, he started his professional career as an animator and graphic designer before moving on to working as head of production for Indonesia’s Ministry of Education Bahasa Indonesia from 2007 to 2008. He is currently creating music as one half of Gabber Modus Operandi.
He began his career in music by performing experimental music at parties, filling a perceived gap in Bali’s music scene. He launched Adultery, a night dedicated to free-form genres, which ran from 2009 to 2016. Additionally, he curated Detak, an experimental music night, initially with his collective Rekam Jejak from 2011 to 2016, and later with Kepus Pungsed, focusing on experimental gamelan music starting in 2023. Motivated
by his vision, Kasimyn founded Gorong-Gorong Records, spotlighting the contemporary talents of young traditional Indonesian musicians.
His art embodies a dynamic exploration of locality, a dialogue between tradition and technology, as well as synthetic rituals. It draws heavily from his extensive research in reverse engineering traditional music, retuning electronic compositions to resonate with each local territory’s unique musical heritage.
GITA FARA
PRODUCER
Gita began her filmmaking career by working on Garin Nugroho’s masterpieces, Sermabi (2005) and Opera Jawa (2006). Since then, four of her feature films have been showcased in the international film festival circuit. Among them is Kamila Andini’s The Seen and Unseen (2017), which garnered various international accolades. Some other notable films she has produced include Garin Nugroho’s Nyai (2015) and Arfan Sabran’s The Flame (2021).
Her latest film production, Before, Now and Then (2022) by Kamila Andini, premiered in the main competition of the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, winning the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. It also clinched Best Film in the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2022 and received five Citra Awards at the 2022 Indonesian Film Festival, including Best Feature Film. Gita is an alumna of Berlinale’s Talents Tokyo 2016 and currently serves on the Committee for Festival Film Indonesia 2024–2026. Samsara marks the fifth film that she has produced.
ALDO SWASTIA
PRODUCER
Aldo graduated Cum Laude from Jakarta Institute of Arts with a full scholarship. His thesis, Angin, was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2010 Festival Film Indonesia. His feature film debut as both the director and screenwriter, Kadet 1947, won two awards, Best Film and Best Directing at the Indonesian Screen Awards and 16th Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival respectively. The film also earned him a Citra Award nomination at the Indonesian Film Festival 2022 for Best Original Screenplay. He is credited as a producer for the cine- concert Samsara (2024) directed by Garin Nugroho. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents Tokyo 2022.
BATARA GOEMPAR, I.C.S
CINEMATOGRAPHER & CO-PRODUCER
Batara Goempar is a cinematographer based in Jakarta. He graduated from Jakarta Institute of Arts majoring in Cinematography and is also an alumnus of Berlinale Talent Campus 2016.
He has contributed his expertise to over 22 feature films, series and shorts, collaborating with some of Indonesia’s most prominent film directors. Among them are Garin Nugroho, Timo Tjahjanto, Edwin, Rako Prijanto, Ifa Isfansyah and more recently Kamila Andini for her latest film Before, Now and Then.
Before, Now and Then premiered at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival main competition where it clinched the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance, and later secured the title of Best Film at the Asia Pacific
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Screen Awards 2022. Notably Batara Goempar won the Best Cinematography award for the film at the 2022 Indonesian Film Festival; it was just one of the five Citra awards that the film received. Additionally, he also garnered nominations for the Best Cinematography Award at the Asian Pacific Screen Awards 2022 and the Asian Film Awards in 2023.
The film marked a significant milestone for him as he became the first Indonesian cinematographer to have his work screened at the Camerimage Film Festival in 2022. His latest work as a cinematographer for the series Gadis Kretek has garnered global success, captivating millions of viewers worldwide.
VIDA SYLVIA
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Vida is an Indonesian Film Production Designer based in Indonesia and Australia.
She started her filmmaking journey while studying Architecture at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Vida Sylvia, one of the very few production designers in Indonesia, has worked on 37 films as well as numerous series and short films.
She boasts an array of accolades, including winning the Citra Award for Best Art Direction for Abracadabra at both the 2022 Indonesian Film Festival and the 2021 Piala Maya. Additionally, her work on Before, Now and Then earned her Best Art Direction awards at the Indonesian Film Festival 2022 and Piala Maya 2023, as well as a nomination for Best Production Design at the 2023 Asian Film Awards. Furthermore, she was honoured with the Best Art Direction award at the 2023 Bandung Film Festival for her contribution to Deadly Love Poetry a film by Garin Nugroho.
RETNO RATIH DAMAYANTI
COSTUME & MAKE UP DESIGN
Retno Ratih Damayanti is an Indonesian costume designer. After graduating from Universitas Gajah Mada, she worked as a costume designer on Opera Jawa (2006) directed by Garin Nugroho. Since then, she has done more than 70 movies and won several prestigious awards in Indonesia.
Notably, she has won numerous Festival Film Indonesia (FFI) awards and nominations for films such as Habibi and Ainun (2013) and Garin Nugroho’s Puisi Yang Membunuh (2023). She also received acclaim for her work in Before, Now and Then (2022) for which she garnered a nomination at the Asian Film Awards – Hong Kong for Best Costume Design. She has also contributed her talents to international features, such as D’oost (2020) and Sweet Dreams (2023). She won the Best Costume Design Award for the latter at the Netherlands Film Festival, where the movie was also awarded Best Film.
Beyond film, she also does costume work for stage performances, working with theatre companies such as Garasi Performance Institute, Titimangsa Foundation and more.