INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING WITH KIKI FEBRIYANTI

#filmmaking #independentdirector #filmproduction #filmfestival #talkshow
BIOGRAPHY

Kiki Febriyanti was born in Bondowoso, East Java, Indonesia.
The interest in films came in her early years while visiting old cinema building.
Kiki holds a Bachelor’s degree majoring in Indonesian Literature and completed The John Darling Fellowship 2015 “Visual anthropology” at the Australian National University, Canberra.

Kiki Febriyanti is the director of several documentaries, short films and videos focusing on the topics of gender, human rights and culture.
Currently, Kiki is working as a freelance filmmaker based in Jakarta, Indonesia and available for traveling inside of the country or abroad.

SOCIAL LINKS
1) Patreon: *you can support Kiki in all her endeavours by becoming her Patron
https://www.patreon.com/kikifebriyanti
2)Vimeo:
https://www.vimeo.com/kikifebriyanti
3) YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIIP48Mh_wb2OHYi2qXJ0Mg

FILMS
*all the films are provided with English subtitles
1) "Jangan bilang aku gila"
https://www.cultureunplugged.com/storyteller/KIKI.FEBRIYANTI/VkVaU1JsQlJQVDA9K0k=#/myFilms
2) "Yup, it's my body"
https://video.engagemedia.org/Members/KIKIFEBRIYANTI/videos/itsmybody
3) "Calalai"
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Calalai-Betweenness-Kiki-Febriyanti/dp/B079JGZZRK
4) "Roti"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_JBIibq0A&feature=youtu.be

INTERVIEWS
1) https://b-side.city/post/kiki-febriyanti/
2) https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/02/films-by-asian-female-directors/
3) https://www.beritasatu.com/hiburan/468433-52-film-indonesia-tayang-di-europalia-art-festival
4) https://plus62.co.id/archives/tag/kiki-febriyanti

Hi, everybody! This is my small talk show

about people who inspire me

and people who motivate me to do smth

So, today's guest is

Kiki Febriyanti

an independent filmmaker from Indonesia

Hi, Kiki! How are you?

Hi, I'm okay, how are you?

I'm also okay

I'm fine, thank you so much!

Thank you so much for joining me today

I suppose it's very important we have this conversation

because I really want audience

to know your way and your path

and I also would like to ask you

what it is to be an independent filmmaker

today in this era, in this period

but let's start from the beginning

maybe you can tell us a little bit

what urged your interest in filmmaking?

How did you start?

Well, it's long story

haha but let's make it short

because I have to be back to my childhood

so, at the beginning

at first actually I was inspired by

best friend of my grandparents

and he was a photojournalist

so he often showed me his works

and then I was thinking okay

I will become photojournalist too

just like him

also my family loved watching movies

and my parents

my grandma my parents

they often took me to

to watch movies in cinema

just nearby my house

we just took a walk 5 minutes and it's already there

and then

I think

the guy who worked there as cleaner

already got used to

got used to me

like in the cinema, so

usually before the cinema opens

he invited me

to just play inside

just to take a look at the posters

of the movies

and just sit

inside of the cinema before

there are

another audience

so that's how I was interested in film

so, it was from your very childhood

when you were just a kid

and then in 2008 there was

when I was in university there was

documentary filmmaking workshop In-Docs

it came to my university in Jember

East Java. East Java? yeah

and then

I tried to join this event

and then I was selected

my story was selected to

to receive scholarship to be produced

and then

that's how I started filmmaking

so, in 2008

I made my first documentary film

so, it was like 12 years ago

yeah, yes 12 years ago

What was your first film? What was it about?

It was about two persons

who

they were labelized

as they have

mental illness

and

I made the story about them about their feelings

about their life

How they struggle to

to be accepted in society

in their family

and their environment

so, it was about

mental illness and

it was about the place

about the asylum, yes, because

I've watched your film I know a little bit the plot

yes, at the beginning it opened

the founder told me it was just

the place for learning Koran

like reading Koran, but then

many people came just

to shelter these people

so it became this kind of place

like shelter for people

with mental problems

okay so yeah

How did you find this story? How did you find

these people? How did you find your subjects?

actually

I already

was kind of like friends

with the founder

of Islamic boarding house

The Al Ghafur boarding house

because my mom

was working as teacher

in the elementary school

near the boarding house

that's how I knew him

and I often curious

because these people

these people who stay there

people with mental illness

what people said

just freely walked

freely

communicated with people

in neighbourhood

so they are not like in asylum

like we think

inside of the room they cannot go outside

on the contrary, they are

they make interaction

make interaction with locals there

that's what interesting

for me yeah

but I mean that this topic is

quite specific yes and it's

huuuh yeah

like at the beginning

usually we think they are dangerous

they are

we need to avoid them or smth like that

but what I

always learned from my childhood like

they're just like us, they're just

no difference with me

they can communicate with people,

they can socialize

they can work and I'm thinking

How is their life

actually?

facing the situation

facing the society, facing their family

it's interesting for me, it's just like

how I see myself through

through these people, through my subjects

that's how and that's why

I made this film

How did your subjects react

when they saw the camera?

yeah actually it's funny thing

yeah how the subject react to the camera

in my case

in that first film like

the subject was

I tried to make them like to get used to it

with the camera

so during the research I also brought

I brought camera

so they kind of got used to it

and they were like okay with this

like on the contrary

one of the crew

that I brought to the location

who

supposedly was asked to record this

because I was directing

so I tried to communicate with the subject

and he needed to record

he cannot, he's like nervous

so somehow

what unexpected

reaction was not from the subject

but from one of the crew

yeah

well actually this question

always makes me wonder

How do subjects

any subjects react to the camera, yes?

If we're talking about documentary filmmaking

that's why I'm always interested in that

I'm really happy you made this film

and it is open if I'm not mistaken?

so, the audience can watch

yes, it's in the website called

cultureunplugged,com

so we can put it below

sure

and if I'm not mistaken you were selected

with this film at

different film festivals

and you also attended

STEPS International

Film Festival of Human Rights

In Ukraine, in Kharkiv. in Ukraine, yes

in 2013, right?

2014, if I'm not mistaken

it was long time ago

no no no, it was in 2013, Ki

ahhhh okay

right? it was in 2013

yes yes

You received the award

within that festival

you received an award for being

the best documentary filmmaker

and it was exactly with the film

Jangan bilang aku gila / Don't call me crazy

yeah

Maybe you can tell us a little bit about your experience

My first festival was in India

it was selected in India

for me to screen

my film for the audience

to wider audience it's already

kind of like happiness yeah

cause it is my goal

to give awareness to

people about this situation

about my subject

about the condition yeah

and then when they

I mean the festival gave me this award

it's like a bonus

because for me it's already happiness

that people know the condition there

in my hometown

with these people

so, yeah it's like a bonus

it's like an extra happiness

plus

The Ambassador of Indonesia to Ukraine

also attended Festival

and she and the stuff

also were very supportive

so yeah, I was very happy with that

you were happy to share with the audience, right

to share the story

yes, I can understand you so well

Can I ask you about your second film?

which was also independent and it was

"Yup, it's my body"

yes yeah

How did you choose the topic and the subject?

maybe you can tell us a little bit about that film

So, actually this

the second film "Yup, it's my body"

I made that it's like

a diary

because I was about

to graduate from

my university soon

and all those years I stayed

with them with my subjects

which were also my roommates

my flatmates in boarding house

and I noticed like some habit

of us

of all of us...like

we always discussed about the body image

I try to diet with this way I try to diet this way

and It's like I asked them

Why do you do this? What for?

In my boarding house that time

most of them tried to lose weight

especially one of the closest friend

her name is Sara

she more often to share with me

about her life her way something like that

cause we're like family in that boarding house

so I tried to document that

as kind of like memorabilia

so I recorded

I started recording with

Mini DV

so I used that to record

at the beginning I used to record

the activities and situation in my boarding house

with that handycam

and the cassette

at first I was using

actually recycled

cassette

so I didn't buy

I got the cassette the mini DV

from the recycled wedding shooting

and one of my friend

he was a journalist in television

so the cassette that he already digitize

he gave me

so I kind of like

used that cassette again

and then In-Docs somehow

I read the announcement that

In-Docs opened again scholarship

like for masterclass

so I applied with this story

that actually I'd already recorded before

so, I just went deeper with this topic

about the body image

Nowadays, the topic of body positivity

became an agenda yes

and your film "Yup, it's my body" is 2009?

nine, nine yeah

so it was like 11 years ago

raising the topic of

body positivity, yes

so, you were ahead of the time I suppose

right?

yeah, I suppose this kind of issue like

yeah, it's so bad that for a long time

still we need to

we have still this kind of issue

Kiki, it's very nice

you lead the conversation into cassette way

yes and into

so, as I understand

like 12 years ago you still could witness

the pre-digital era

you still could work exactly with films maybe

maybe you can tell us a little bit about that

Do you see the difference in

analog filmmaking and digital filmmaking

Actually it's kind of like

quite different like

because when it was analog

of course it cost a lot yeah

if we talk about production

because you need to buy cassette mini DV

and one cassette is

approximately like 20 000 IDR

like 2 USD probably that time

and then one cassette

can record like 60 minutes

like 1 hour approximately

and now you can just have

SD Card ...or

just memory card, so all digital

so, anytime you can just record whatever you want

whatever you like

and then you just transfer it to

Harddisk or your computer

and that's it, so

and you can reuse it all the time

yeah, I mean, you just buy

once or twice

or just bring a couple, but you can repeat

using this card like all the time

no need to worry that

in urgent situation

in such kind of situation

that you finish the cassette, right

yeah and also

the thing is

I feel at least myself

I feel like

wth mini dV cassette

it's like

we trained to be more discipline

I trained more discipline

with this because I need to

more precisely think about the budget

think about the time

something like that

I even...

so, you have limitations, I mean like

with analog filmmaking you have some limitations

yes, I have some limitations, but

there are also kind of

like pros and cons, of course, yeah

that time I

I remember because I do everything by myself

I put mark in the

in the cassette because always like sticker there

during the editing and post-production

I sat next to my

editor

I can remember precisely

okay, this footage is

in the cassette number this or this

and the time code is approximately

these kind of minutes, seconds

maybe a little bit different yeah

but I can remember like this

yes, it's easier because we have

yeah, I still save my mini DV cassette, so

sometimes I try to remember

ohh, that time when I shot film I needed to

really remember these things

yeah, that's about the production and then

and then also later about distribution

it was

of course more expensive that time

rather than now, it's much much cheaper

because we can do it online yeah

Kiki, I know also

that you are working as a film crew

in different projects

sometimes you become director

sometimes you become assistant of the director

sometimes you become producer

and you're working not only with documentaries

but with different media

maybe you can share with us

a little bit about the shooting process

the shooting process itself

What is the shooting process for you?

It's different, every production has

has different kind of type

I mean let's make it

something more general like between

documentary and non-documentary, for instance

in non-documentary usually

we have more crew

non-documentary, fiction

fiction or it can be

advertisement or something like that

anything that

which is not documentary

usually we

at least in my situation,

in my case

I had

experience of work with more crew

for non-documentary

and for documentary I prefer

at least so far

I prefer to work

with smaller crew

and usually in documentary

I can choose my own crew

I prefer to choose my own crew

whom I already know

like we already know each other

the pace, the character and everything

because how we communicate

we don't always agree with each other

but we already understand

"the language"

so, it's like in documentaries you prefer

to have a chamber crew

just like a couple

yeah, like more intimacy

yes yes yes, I understand

okay, Kiki and what is

because you know in Facebook and everywhere

I'm following these groups

about filmmaking

funny groups, I mean yes

and a lot of people are saying that it is

very very hard work

you know that I also

took part in some shootings

and

I remember

It was a very big surprise for me

when I came to the shooting location

and

everything ended like in 24 hours

so I had

24 hours shooting day

and it was a disaster for me

somehow when you're in the shooting process

you don't see the time flies

you don't see that, you don't feel that

somehow it was really amazing for me

and somehow I was really into that

and I suppose if you're working in that field

for already more than 10 years

probably it also gets your attention

and gets your interest in that

maybe you can give advise to young filmmakers

What is it to be in the shooting process?

Do you like that? What is that?

yes, if we talk about

non-documentary, for instance

there is actually always time

we have call sheet, we have schedule

like crew call is at this time

for instance, 6 a.m. or 5 a.m

and then we gather and prepare and evrth

and then

we start shooting at 7 a.m. or smth like that

and we supposedly

finish shooting at this time, for instance

in non-documentary, it's

kind of like actually

more precise about the time

but in documentary we don't have

we don't have this specific time

we shoot based on our research actually

but of course

we got used to it, we know

ohh okay, my character usually

wakes up at this time, usually this time

she goes to school

or at this time usually

she goes to pray, e t.c

but during the shooting it can be different

changing

sometimes changing totally

so, that's how we adjust

if there is unexpected moment

in the middle of the night

or very early in the morning

in documentary I feel that my brain

always stand-by even

while I was sleeping I also feel

like my brain is also working, you know

yes yes

like I need to be aware all the time during the

documentary shooting

because you are following the subject

or the subjects

because you are following your story

many people think when I meet

people, friends or family

or just strangers

who knew that

ohh you're working in film ohh it must be cool

you travel a lot

it will be like red carpet

you met celebrities

must be you have nice

kind of photos

for your

social media like behind the camera

holding clapper board

or something like that yeah

it is cute things about this

but it's not only about that

actually many things happen that

because you need to love and

have passion

in it

because it is not

I would say

it's not easy work, you know

and for me it's not just work

it's just not profession

but it's part of life

so, if you don't love it

it's even harder

probably yes

honestly, I don't really know that

we have like precise

time schedule

time working

like, for instance, if people who work in office

they have specific time like 9 to 5

but in film we don't have this

because sometimes we have to

catch some moment

like we need to shoot

sun goes down or sun goes up

like sunrise, sunset

for instance, yeah , just an example

something that explicit

that is easy to explain

many things like that

and I agree with you absolutely that

if a person has no passion about that

it's very hard

because it is hard for people who have passion in that

yes, who have passion in filmmaking

and maybe you can tell us a little bit about

your independent way of post-production

you go further to post-production

post-production is editing

and then an independent filmmaker

needs to go to distribution

so, what is your way?

What is your treatment in these two positions?

yeah it is different in every filmmaker

they have different goals

some of them not really prefer

I know some people who don't want to distribute

so, they made like

They prefer not to screen in the festival, for instance

but only for the community

some of them only

want to screen in the festival, but

not online, for instance, if we talk about nowadays

but for me

if we talk in general

I want

when I make films

I want to show it to people

to audience

for independent filmmakers

usually we don't have

producer or

we don't have special publicist

or distributor

we usually distribute our films

by ourselves

so, that's what I do

Thank you

How do you usually distribute?

What kind of way do you use?

I mean like

I know there are a lot of platforms nowadays

like Filmfreeway or smth else

you can apply online

maybe you can tell us a little bit about that

actually it's

very big difference if we talk about the past and now

because in the past

we need more cost

to submit our film because we need to make copy

of our film in mini DV or

VCD yeah later we had VCD

and then DVD

we have to

send a copy of our film to the festival

through courier through post-office

or something like that

and if the festival

is abroad, for instance

of course, it cost extra

to use the post services, right?

yes yes

and if they request our film

usually they will cover the cost

but if we submit

our film

it means the cost is on us

Nowadays, it's already online

that you, basically you don't need to pay anything

there are a lot of film festivals

that you don't need to pay

for free, yes

the submission is for free

submission is for free

you just need to upload your film

through internet platform

it's like maybe Dropbox,

Wetransfer, Filmfreeway, Mega

many things

Filmfreeway, Filmdepot

many many platforms nowadays

and also because of this digital way

also more and more

maybe we cannot count

like thousands millions film festivals

as well that we don't know

and it gives more chance

for us to try as well

to distribute our film which is cheaper

and perhaps easier as well

How do you think, Kiki, is it easy and

is it easy to be an independent filmmaker?

How do independent filmmakers

usually search for funds?

because I know that funding films

is not an easy way, yes

yeah

ahh yeah

to make the film that is

really your idea

really you feel

you really want to make

this certain project

it's not easy because

sometimes we apply or submit for some

grant, or people, or organisation

it's not easy because

there are also tons of filmmakers

who also apply to the same programme

Exactly

Sometimes we are not selected

I believe that sometimes

if we are not selected

it doesn't mean that your film is bad

or your project is not good

sometimes it's about the taste as well

Some people also do some business

or do another job like

and they save some money to

to make film

that they like

I know there are some filmmakers who are farmers

I know

another filmmakers who are civil servants actually

or they have another job

or me, like I become

I'm a freelancer as crew

in any kind of department

in film production in Jakarta

I mean if you're really passionate

about film

often sometimes people think

ohh you work in film you must

have a lot of money

it can be yes or no

sometimes the goals of working

when we have money we try to

to pay our rent first, to buy food

like the basic things

we try to provide ourselves

Pyramid of Maslow, yes

yeah

but what, usually, at least me

when I am at work

or when I receive

call for project or smth

what came to my mind usually

okay, I will save some money

it means

if they mention like this is the fee

this is the budget

so usually I think

okay, so this is just enough

for my food, for instance

or this is just enough for my rent

but what comes to my mind always

okay, I need to save money for my

my next project

that's the first thing that comes to my mind

to have even just a little bit

even just like 50 000 IDR to save for

your film, your next project

okay, Kiki, so I understood that

like a lot of independent artists

and independent filmmakers

you are just trying to

make money from your freelance job

but somehow this freelance job turned out

to be filmmaking in your case

so, you are filmmaker

filmmaking crew

working for your own independent films

yeah so it's like...

but that's life, yes

and I would like to ask you

about your latest projects

one of them is

documentary film "Calalai"

yes, documentary film "Calalai"

you can tell us a little bit about that

so, my latest project

one is documentary

the title is "Calalai In-betweenness"

it's about the 5th gender

in Indonesia in Bugis culture

in South Sulawesi island

they believe in five genders

which is written in La Galigo manuscript

that humans consist of five genders

male, female, bissu

they are like shamans, like the priest

and then calabai

and calalai

and I made about Calalai

so, it's like they

I mean the Bugis people they have their own system

which is beyond

like they are very great I think

very interesting for me

yes it is, yes it is

I suppose it is also interesting for

nowadays society, because

the more

like every day the agenda of different roles

the society roles, yes

and gender

we discuss it...

yeah, because nowadays also

I mean not only now

many men actually

they become like

work at home

like taking care of the kid

like become the father

and they are not working in the office, for instance

and the wife who is working in the office

which is in some... society

it's like strange or not common

but for

I mean, as long as I learn,

thats' why I made this film

in Bugis society it's okay

or if women work in construction

women become engineers,

technicians or

filmmakers, journalists, police

police officers or smth like that

or even president

it is not smth like...

strange

for Bugis society

I'm not Bugis but so far

thats's what I learned about them

so, Calalai is smth like that

so, if you are

biologically woman

it's okay

for instance, you now become filmmaker

which some people consider this as men's world

yes, a lot of professions in our world

considered to be "men's"

yes yes

okay, Kiki and I also want to ask you

about your latest project

the film "Roti" that

means 'bread" in English

if I'm not mistaken, it is a

microfilm, right?

yes, the duration is only

30 seconds

it's a fiction, but based on a true story

oh, but if it's based on a true story, don't tell us the story

because it's only 30 secods

so, don't spoil anything, yeah

no spoilers

yeah

but it will be screened online

actually already screened in

film festival

Feminist Film Festival in Berlin

and during this Corona time they will screen again

the selected films

online

okay, so maybe we can also give any link

or information below the video

okay, Kiki, I think I will

try to finish our conversation

even though it's very interesting

and very useful to get all these

stories from you

What do you...

Are you in the process of smth

during these Coronavirus times?

or smth like this quarantine?

Do you have any plans any future projects?

so, yeah, during this Corona time

which is we're already in quarantine

all of us

perhaps, most of us in quarantine

I'm working on

video project

which is I'm doing it in documentary way

in the treatment

but the result will be like video art

like experimental

so, you like this moving images

language, yes

I actually love it so much as well

yeah, I mean

video, audio-visual I like

I like audio-visual, I like video so much

besides as maker I also

enjoy it as audience

I love to spend my time watching

short short videos or films

or I spend time in..

before the Corona time I liked to spend time

just go to the cinema

yes, yes

I can clearly understand you

so, that's the language that you like to

consume and that you like to produce, right?

yeah yeah

okay, Kiki,

thank you so much for having this conversation with me

I'm really glad about that

I hope we can meet again

and discuss maybe some other topics

and maybe we can discuss your next project

when you're already done

when this Coronavirus is done, yes

hopefully

hopefully, yeah

Thank you so much for having me

Thank you so much, Kiki, for sharing everything

Sampai jumpa! ( See you!)

until we meet again

Bye bye!

and now I need to end the meeting, yes

you see this Coronavirus

gives us different challenges

awkwardness

hahaha awkwardness

it's okay, still recording I know

because we've already said goodbye to each other

but I need to find

alright, okay

the button of Ending the meeting

I think I'm done

thank you so much, bye bye

thank you thank you

Bye bye!