'Maryam was accepted by the Venice International Film Festival committee but it had also received rejections from other festivals. I also initially did not know that the Maryam film had been accepted to be included in Venice,' Sidi says.

Maryam won on Sept. 6 the Orizzonti award, a recognition given by the jury for the best short film at the festival.

The panel of judges for the Orizzonti award was headed by Chinese director Ann Hui, who won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Other judges included The Sopranos scriptwriter David Chase, Star Wars Episode 1 cast member Pernilla August, Turkish film critic Alin Tasciyan and Israeli actress Moran Atias.

Cineuropa.org in its praise of Maryam says that the film 'plays with the boundaries of documentary and fiction as it explores the small moments of life that prove earth-shattering for those who experience them'.

Maryam was also the first Indonesian movie to be selected in Venice and by winning one of the highest awards at the festival. The movie has now officially become an important part of Indonesia's cinema history.

The 35-year-old said his experience with Maryam and the victory in Venice should be enough to motivate young Indonesian filmmakers who want their movies to be included in international festivals.

'The Internet has made it very easy for filmmakers to submit their movies to international festivals these days. So, a simple tip for young filmmakers is to find more time to deliberate ideas, to execute the projects and just simply make movies,' Sidi said.

'Filmmakers should also not think too much about how their movies will perform in the festivals. Just make movies and submit them. Make movies that are general and can be found to be relatable by all audiences,' he added.

Relatability is indeed a strong point of Maryam, a short film that talks about tolerance, a global social issue. It tells the story of Maryam (Meyke Vierna), a pregnant housemaid told to take care of her autistic employer (Adrianto Sinaga) at Christmas.

The 18-minute film displays how Maryam deals with her confusion and discomfort while accompanying her employer to church to attend a Christmas mass.

Sidi filmed Maryam on Dec. 24 and Dec. 26 in 2013 to keep costs down. By filming the movie on Christmas Eve, Sidi did not need to spend extra to stage and recreate traditions and a Christmas atmosphere. The movie production was then completed in March this year.

Sidi said that a friendly budget was one of the main reasons for him to concentrate on making short films for the time being.

'I am doing short movies as a study facility for me to move into full-time directing,' the filmmaker, who has spent most of his career as a cinematographer for commercial feature-length movies, said.

Sidi's formal education in the cinema industry began when he entered the cinematography major at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) in the late 90s. His introduction to cameras and video editing, however, started long before his university years.

'My father opened a wedding documentary business in 1979. So, since I was a child, I have been introduced to cameras and their technical specifications and aspects,' he said.

'I was not very aware about becoming a filmmaker during my childhood and teenage years. When I entered the IKJ, then suddenly something inside me woke up. I began learning about filmmaking theories and combined them with my technical experience with cameras and editing tools during childhood,' he added.

Sidi said that his long-term goal was to become a maker of feature-length movies because he realized that short movies had not been very popular in the Indonesian market.

'Outside Indonesia, it is very possible to make a living as a short filmmaker. Unfortunately, I live in Indonesia, where artistic taste does not guarantee an artist can make a living from it,' he said.

Despite Sidi's aspiration to create feature-length movies, he said that he had been enjoying the unique artistic experience and knowledge gained from making short movies.

'Making a good short movie is not easy. A filmmaker who can make great feature-length movies cannot automatically become a good short-movie director and vice versa,' Sidi said.

'Short movies, in my opinion, offer uniqueness as they force the filmmaker to deliver a message clearly in such a short amount of time. This genre is a good training ground for directors to practice their sense. For me personally, a great short movie must not only deliver a message but also the mood of the story,' he said.

Based on international consensus, a short movie is a film that ranges between one minute to 30 minutes in duration including opening and credit titles.

'A director can play a lot during openings to use up the duration. This cannot be done in short movies because if an opening takes too long, then the story or the message will not be successfully delivered,' Sidi said.

Sidi also said he believed that the cinematic industry era in Indonesia had just begun and that filmmakers from all genres should take on the momentum.

'In the last few years, more and more filmmakers and related parties have begun introducing high-quality movies and the habit of movie-watching into numerous regions in Indonesia,' he said.

'More and more new filmmakers have also started to showcase their work and art. Some 15 or 20 years ago, young people wanted to get into bands to become famous but now, youth are beginning to show more interest in the art of filmmaking.

'Films have begun to become a primary need in Indonesia. Festivals, including for short films, are now regularly held in Indonesia. This must continue because continuity is the key to properly develop a good film industry. We still, however, need to learn a lot about filmmaking continuity from the Western world.'

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