Cinemata Currents: Defending Civic Spaces through Minor Cinemas in Southeast Asia
2025 · Co-curator-programmer with Aghniadi · Cinemata and EngageMedia
The inaugural hybrid Cinemata festival explores minor cinema and virtual spaces in relation to threatened civic spaces in Southeast Asia. Its screenings and discussions connect films with communities working across the region. Presented 5–8 June 2025, with preview screenings on 2–4 June.
Films
Aku Mau Skola (I Want to Go to School) (2018) · Putri Purnama Sugua
Our Turn (2023) · Na Gyi / Artists’ Shelter
Atohan (Fight) (2016) · Tudla Productions
Silent Drop (2024) · Adi Pereira and Titinhu Brites
Homebound (2022) · Ismail Fahmi Lubis
short/cut (2017) · Ostin Fam
Two Girls Against the Rain (2012) · Sopheak Sao
Strong Heart (2014) · Sommai Phommachan
Memoria (2016) · Kamila Andini
The Visible (2019) · Atikah Zainidi
Diwata (2024) · Ram Botero and Giulia Casalini
Lao Dance (2024) · Proud to Be Us Laos
Self-Portrait (2019) · Adrian Maquilan
The Purple Kingdom (2016) · Pimpaka Towira
Melagu (2022) · Nurdeen Kasor
Dahdi (2015) · Kirsten Tan
Sawo Matang (2023) · Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Los Mandayas (2024) · Jhayzen Parañal
Further and Further Away (2022) · Polen Ly
How to Improve the World (2021) · Nguyễn Trinh Thi
Conversations and related events
Related activities included live conversations with filmmakers and a roundtable, Nurturing Minor Cinemas and Counterpublics: The Power of Independent Film Spaces, featuring Anti-Archive (Cambodia), Kinoise PH (Philippines), Chùm Nho Cinema/Hanoi Grapevine (Vietnam), and independent film programmer Phoebe Pua (Singapore). Two workshops explored participatory documentation with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), Thailand’s Duay Jai Group, and Sri Lanka’s Suriya Women’s Development Centre; and Indigenous storytelling with the East-West Management Institute–Open Development Initiative (EWMI–ODI) and Knowledge for Development Foundation (K4D).
Visit the festival announcement