Funding, screening access confines the aesthetics of documentary filmmakers

The Djakarta Post | Feature | Sun, April 27 2014, 11:12 AM

The availability of inexpensive video cameras, editing software and the Internet has led to an explosion in local documentary filmmaking.

While more Indonesians telling Indonesian stories from their own perspective is good, a vast number of local have been produced in cooperation with NGOs, focusing on their specific issues of interest – with mixed results for the local scene.

Local filmmaker BW Purbanegara cites his latest documentary, produced through cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as an example.