As the Sprouts Grow

In the constant stream of hoping, failing and making new plans, Denok and Gareng stay united in their passionate struggle to make it up the hill one day. In the modest house of Gareng’s mum, these young, ex-street urchins Muslim couple starts a small pig business, looking for the lucky streak to come over the family. But new challenges constantly arise, putting their cheerfulness and patience on trial. In an entirely observational approach, ‘Denok & Gareng’ explores a strong loving relationship inside a strikingly vivid family that sticks together, fights back and laughs, about what others would call a Sisyphus fate.

Ngatiyem and her grandson Okta live at Lentera, an orphanage in Solo for children with HIV. After the orphanage is relocated to a secluded cemetery, Okta and friends are expelled from school. As Okta's health declines, Ngatiyem becomes overwhelmed, struggling to provide the care and attention he desperately needs.

Irfan (29), a musician and songwriter who interprets development phenomena in his neighborhood into a collaborative art project "Sidewalk Flowers" ("Bunga Trotoar"). The concept: recording traces of human interaction with urban growth in the form of musical performances that are open to interdisciplinary collaboration.

A documentary filmmaker, was awaiting the birth of her first child during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, he received a grant from Rekam Pandemi, a form of social safety net for arts workers to create documentaries that record the events and stories regarding the outbreak. Along the way, he met artists and arts exhibition organizers who were planning to hold exhibitions. He was later asked to collaborate on the making of audiovisual products as a strategy of organizing arts activities during the pandemic. Halfway through, his mother, who had been looking forward to having a grandchild for a long time, died of cirrhosis. He tried his best to get through the phases of life, birth, and death, all taking at the same time while he still had work to do.