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The Sape Lambu tragedy documented in black and white
Stark: A scene from Marah Di Bumi Lambu, which tells of when three local residents were killed by police during a protest against a gold mine
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Stark: A scene from Marah Di Bumi Lambu, which tells of when three local residents were killed by police during a protest against a gold mine. (Courtesy of Hafiz Rancajale)" border="0" height="300" width="533">Stark: A scene from Marah Di Bumi Lambu, which tells of when three local residents were killed by police during a protest against a gold mine. (Courtesy of Hafiz Rancajale)An old woman displays two bullet holes in an old pair of pants and says âthatâs where I got shotâ to the cameraman. âI am keeping these pants for my grandchildren so that they can see the fight I put up to defend my rights.â
She is the first of many people interviewed by Hafiz Rancajale in his latest documentary, Marah Di Bumi Lambu (Rage in Lambu Land).
The film tells the story of how the people in Lambu in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have come to terms with their physical and spiritual wounds following a violent clash with the local police in late 2011.
In the conflict, called the Sape Lambu tragedy, three local residents were killed after the police opened fire.
Prior to the shooting, local residents had closed down Sape Port to protest the Bima administrationâs decision to give a permit to PT SMN to mine gold in Lambu.
They wanted the permit revoked, fearing that that the mine would ruin their land and eventually their livelihoods as farmers.
The police began shooting to disperse the protestors. Many were forced to jump into the water to avoid the hail of bullets.
âWe were lucky that the tide was low, otherwise more of us could have been killed,â said another local resident interviewed by Hafiz.
Throughout the documentary, Hafiz does not identify his informants. Only a few have their names revealed to the audience in the very last segment.
âI kept them anonymous because I want the audience to engage with their suffering and struggles without having to know their names or their status in Lambu society,â Hafiz said.
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span class="inline inline-none">Stark: A scene from Marah Di Bumi Lambu, which tells of when three local residents were killed by police during a protest against a gold mine. (Courtesy of Hafiz Rancajale)
An old woman displays two bullet holes in an old pair of pants and says 'that's where I got shot' to the cameraman. 'I am keeping these pants for my grandchildren so that they can see the fight I put up to defend my rights.'
She is the first of many people interviewed by Hafiz Rancajale in his latest documentary, Marah Di Bumi Lambu (Rage in Lambu Land).
The film tells the story of how the people in Lambu in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have come to terms with their physical and spiritual wounds following a violent clash with the local police in late 2011.
In the conflict, called the Sape Lambu tragedy, three local residents were killed after the police opened fire.
Prior to the shooting, local residents had closed down Sape Port to protest the Bima administration's decision to give a permit to PT SMN to mine gold in Lambu.
They wanted the permit revoked, fearing that that the mine would ruin their land and eventually their livelihoods as farmers.
The police began shooting to disperse the protestors. Many were forced to jump into the water to avoid the hail of bullets.
'We were lucky that the tide was low, otherwise more of us could have been killed,' said another local resident interviewed by Hafiz.
Throughout the documentary, Hafiz does not identify his informants. Only a few have their names revealed to the audience in the very last segment.
'I kept them anonymous because I want the audience to engage with their suffering and struggles without having to know their names or their status in Lambu society,' Hafiz said.
Hafiz delivered the documentary in black and white, a format he said was more 'aesthetic'.
The high-contrast visuals give the documentary a gloomy feel. Despite this, the film features dark humor and a satirical look at daily life in Lambu following the tragedy.
For example, in one scene, a man tells Hafiz how people were willing to die to defend their land. Suddenly, the man's cell phone springs to life with a call.
The ringtone is the recorded voice of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, uttering the proclamation of independence.
In another scene, Ansyari alias Owen, a prominent activist in Lambu who was beaten by the police and was detained for a week, tells Hafiz that his struggle in defense of his land was nothing compared to what he was about to face.
'I am going to get married,' Owen said. 'Marriage is another struggle, you know.'
Owen did indeed struggle during his wedding ceremony, in the most memorable scene of the documentary.
The man, such a feared activist that even the police called him 'Owen Setan' (Owen the Devil), was so nervous during the ceremony that he needed to repeat his qabul Muslim wedding vows more than ten times before finally the cleric proclaimed that the marriage was legitimate.
Hafiz, a graduate of the Jakarta Arts Institute and one of the founders of the Ruangrupa art space, is no stranger to the medium of political filmmaking.
He also founded Forum Lenteng, a community for local documentary filmmakers, and is the founder of the ARKIPEL International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival in Jakarta.
All of which shows in the documentary, which is strikingly and effectively shot as it gives a face to popular resistance.
It is, however, not without flaws.
There is much repetition about what triggered the clash. That people opposed the gold mining permit is repeated over and over again throughout the documentary. After a while, it becomes boring.
Hafiz also allocates very little time to explore the alleged collusion between businesses and government officials to deprive people of their land rights ' even though this is the film's central point.
The documentary, however, is worth seeing, although the filmmaker says he will not screen it in local cinemas.
'We want the documentary to be accessible to all of the public. So, we are going to upload it to the Internet and people can watch or download it freely,' Hafiz said.
One of the Internet channels that might be used to feature the documentary is video sharing site YouTube, according to Hafiz.
'Whether we are going to upload the documentary somewhere else is still under consideration. Future screenings and distribution of the documentary are still in process,' Hafiz said.
For more information on Marah Di Bumi Lambu, visit home.forumlenteng.org or facebook.com/forumlenteng.jakarta.
