The Film

Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi) | Indonesia/ Germany/ Switzerland 2012 | dir. Children of Srikandi Collective | 75 min | 16:9 | HDV

Our Story

The anthology CHILDREN OF SRIKANDI is the first film about the world and experiences of queer women in Indonesia. In interlaced short films, eight female filmmakers tell us about what it means to be a queer woman in Indonesia, home to the world´s largest Muslim population. For this, they did nearly everything by themselves. They learned to write a script, to hold a camera, to edit.. to become filmmakers. They all got the immense courage to speak out their truth, in a context of recent violent attacks against LGBT events.

These moving authentic and poetic stories are interlinked with the tale of Srikandi, which serves as the framework plot. Srikandi is one of the main characters of the Mahabharata, a well-known Indian epic. Even today Srikandi is still frequently used in the traditional Javanese shadow puppet theatre plays (wayang kulit). By changing gender identity (born as a female, but living as a man) and sexual orientation, i.e. crossing the bounds of the normative perceptions of being a woman, Srikandi is a strong symbol for many women in Indonesia. She is a “female warrior”. Srikandi’s story features in beautiful shadow theater scenes, used as transitions, serving to remind viewers that same-sex love and gender variety were not imported from the West but in fact form a deep and ancient aspect of Indonesian society.

We have now completed 90% of the film and are working towards the completion to make it fit for the big screen! 

Concept

All women collectively worked as a crew or actress in each other`s film. The eight short films range from observational documentary and concept art to personal essay films and therefore then anthology transcends the borders between documentary/fiction/experimental film. The common thread is both the radical personal perspective of the filmmakers and the appearance of the same persons in different roles (e.g. as street kid and as religious Muslim woman) in the short films of the others. From the beginning to the end, change is possible on all levels of the film: personal, political, and also on the formal level, transformation is always inscribed in the narrative. Form and identity are fluid; perspectives are shifted.

The puppeteer, the singer and the gamelan orchestra, who accompany the tale with music and singing, are an essential part of the shadow theater play. Both the puppeteer and the singer are male to female transgenders. Soleh (25) and Ani (59) work since many years as wayang kulit performers in Surabaya, East Java. CHILDREN OF SRIKANDI also tells of Soleh and Ani and in doing so, expands the tale of Srikandi to the presence - Srikandi is embodied and represented by them as an inverted mirror image. Thus, the narrative of the wayang kulit play is changed from fiction to documentary and from the past into the present.

The Impact

“Women, especially LBT women are underrepresented in media, their issues and conflicts are swept under the rug. Our goal is to reach out to many LBT women in Indonesia who are afraid to come forward or feel that they are alone. If we can reach just one heart a time, then we already succeeded.” (Stea Lim, director, executive producer).

As more news fueled stereotypes about Muslims increase, this film made by eight local filmmakers gives a glimpse of their daily experiences by showing their own point of views. By doing the filming themselves, the women are able to share their feelings and talk about their stories in an authentic way. Thus the films give voice to a group rarely heard, revealing personal tales of exclusion and struggle, but also love and happiness. In a country where women are afforded only a very low status, there is also meaning at the level of social intervention. The film is both aesthetically engaging and politically empowering. Popular stereotypes about Muslims, and LGBT people are thereby deconstructed and challenged.

What We Need & What You Get

Specifically, your money will go towards:

• Sound design and mix
  
• Color correction
  
• Titles and Subtitles

Check out the cool rewards, and please help us reach our goal!

Other Ways You Can Help!

Even if you cannot help us financially, you can support us to spread the Campaign through your social networks! You can help to build buzz and make a real impact in this world.

Check out the different ways to help:

1. CONTRIBUTE: for example a minimum of $10 (7,50 €), then pledge to invite 10 others to do the same. If 50 people do this we will have raised $ 5,000. And so the chain of micro giving will continue and grow

2. SHARE: the link on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Email and beyond
   

3. SPEAK: to your specific network of people and get them excited about the film

4. CLAIM: the power and the space for queer women’s stories to be realized on the screen