Shalahuddin Siregar

A rare look inside Indonesian Islamic boarding schools, showcasing a centuries-old educational system that fosters character, compassion, and respect in the face of rising extremism.

Silenced for more than 50 years, a group of elderly women in Indonesia decided to share the country’s forgotten history to the young generation through singing. The women formed a choir group that sings songs written inside prisons by those who were arrested and sentenced for years without any single trial. The singing and sharing has helped them heal their trauma as well as connecting them with an eager young audience.

Nokas, a 27 years old man has a simple dream that is to marry his beloved Ci, a Timorese girl who works in a slaughterhouse in Sumili, Kupang. It is not easy to marry a Timorese girl who due to the belis or dowry a man has to pay. The amount varies but it is never a bargain. Sometimes such tradition makes marriage sound like a business transaction which the women become merely an object. In addition Nokas has to get another fund ready for two wedding ceremonies in two locations. Hailing from a poor family Nokas has to make a strategy in funding the costly wedding ceremonies many problems emerge from such big issue like the dowry he has to pay to the parents to the issue of wedding dress. With observational approach this movie is depicting the efforts of Nokas’s family in fulfilling his wedding expenses.

Siti and Bondan, a couple of bride and groom-to be faced with a bitter truth when they were getting ready for their wedding plan.

An inter-faith family come to a conflict when the mother, Maryam, died. The children (Fara, Aryo, and Adi) and the housemaid (Ijah) debating on how Maryam will get buried. When Maryam's funeral problem get solved, turns out that other problems still haunting them one by one.

Julio, an 8-year-old boy, quits school and works as a "konjak" (driver's assistant in public transportation). He considers his work as a "konjak" as his leisure time, and he thinks that school is important, but he is not finding a way to go back to school.

A rare look inside Indonesian Islamic boarding schools, showcasing a centuries-old educational system that fosters character, compassion, and respect in the face of rising extremism.

A rare look inside Indonesian Islamic boarding schools, showcasing a centuries-old educational system that fosters character, compassion, and respect in the face of rising extremism.

Silenced for more than 50 years, a group of elderly women in Indonesia decided to share the country’s forgotten history to the young generation through singing. The women formed a choir group that sings songs written inside prisons by those who were arrested and sentenced for years without any single trial. The singing and sharing has helped them heal their trauma as well as connecting them with an eager young audience.

Nokas, a 27 years old man has a simple dream that is to marry his beloved Ci, a Timorese girl who works in a slaughterhouse in Sumili, Kupang. It is not easy to marry a Timorese girl who due to the belis or dowry a man has to pay. The amount varies but it is never a bargain. Sometimes such tradition makes marriage sound like a business transaction which the women become merely an object. In addition Nokas has to get another fund ready for two wedding ceremonies in two locations. Hailing from a poor family Nokas has to make a strategy in funding the costly wedding ceremonies many problems emerge from such big issue like the dowry he has to pay to the parents to the issue of wedding dress. With observational approach this movie is depicting the efforts of Nokas’s family in fulfilling his wedding expenses.

Siti and Bondan, a couple of bride and groom-to be faced with a bitter truth when they were getting ready for their wedding plan.

Siti and Bondan, a couple of bride and groom-to be faced with a bitter truth when they were getting ready for their wedding plan.

An inter-faith family come to a conflict when the mother, Maryam, died. The children (Fara, Aryo, and Adi) and the housemaid (Ijah) debating on how Maryam will get buried. When Maryam's funeral problem get solved, turns out that other problems still haunting them one by one.

Julio, an 8-year-old boy, quits school and works as a "konjak" (driver's assistant in public transportation). He considers his work as a "konjak" as his leisure time, and he thinks that school is important, but he is not finding a way to go back to school.

An elderly choir group brings back erased violent history by singing songs that were written in prison and have been silenced for more than 50 years.

An elderly choir group brings back erased violent history by singing songs that were written in prison and have been silenced for more than 50 years.

In the rhythm of a slow visual journey, "The Land Beneath the Fog" takes an intimate look on family relations in Genikan, a village on the slope of Merbabu Mountain. A quiet community faces change without understanding why it happens. As a community of farmers who rely on traditional Javanese calendar system to read the seasons, they become puzzled by the dramatic change of seasons. Describing a life on the brink of vanishing, this documentary offers deep insights into an invisible and disenfranchised society which is struggling hard underneath its veiled existence.

In the rhythm of a slow visual journey, "The Land Beneath the Fog" takes an intimate look on family relations in Genikan, a village on the slope of Merbabu Mountain. A quiet community faces change without understanding why it happens. As a community of farmers who rely on traditional Javanese calendar system to read the seasons, they become puzzled by the dramatic change of seasons. Describing a life on the brink of vanishing, this documentary offers deep insights into an invisible and disenfranchised society which is struggling hard underneath its veiled existence.