An 18-minute 52-second hybrid documentary by a young director from\nAceh, Muhammad Hendri, has once again achieved international\nrecognition. The film, entitled Hikayatussistance (2025), has been\nselected for screening at the Un\u2022colonial International Film Festival\n2026, to be held in M\u00fcnster, Germany, from 23 to 27 August.<\/p>\n
Hikayatussistance passed the festival\u2019s rigorous selection process,\noutlasting more than 2,000 works from 120 countries. The Un\u2022colonial\nInternational Film Festival itself positions cinema as an anti-colonial\npractice that interrogates memory, land, diaspora, archives and\npower.<\/p>\n
Produced by Muhammad Maulana through Aceh Menonton Films,\nHikayatussistance features Acehnese oral artist Fuadi Klayu. Speaking in\nAcehnese and Indonesian, Fuadi recites \u2018Dongeng Sebelum Gulita\u2019 (A Tale\nBefore Darkness) in a red room \u2014 a hikayat performance about a fertile\nland on the brink of destruction.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s blend of performance, archive and artistic visual\nconstruction positions the hikayat not only as living memory, but also\nas a socio-political expression and an ideology of resistance.<\/p>\n
Its presence in Germany marks a new chapter in Hikayatussistance\u2019s\nlong journey since April 2026. The film has traversed a range of\nscreening spaces, from festivals and museums to educational forums and\ncommunity venues in Indonesia, Ukraine and Romania:<\/p>\n
April 2026 (Yogyakarta): Screened at CineDocx, JFA Cinema Hub on 12,\n18 and 23 April, presented alongside works from Spain, Myanmar and a\nFrance\u2013Switzerland\u2013Thailand collaboration in a global experimental film\nforum.<\/p>\n
4\u20138 May 2026 (Tangerang): Selected for UCIFEST 17 at Multimedia\nNusantara University under the theme \u2018Power\u2019, examining how power\ndetermines which voices are heard.<\/p>\n
6 May 2026 (Banda Aceh): Screening and workshop with students and\nteachers of SMKN 1 Banda Aceh, using the hybrid documentary as a medium\nfor discussing reality and construction.<\/p>\n
May 2026 (Gala\u021bi, Romania): Official Selection of the International\nOpen Frame Gala\u021bi 2026 at Dun\u0103rea de Jos University, as part of Night of\nMuseums 2026.<\/p>\n
14 May\u201312 September 2026 (Ukraine): Passed selection from 2,500 films\nat the ICJ International Film Award 2026 and joined a screening\nprogramme at 100 schools, including a lyceum in Kramatorsk relocated\nfrom an active conflict zone.<\/p>\n
30 May 2026 (West Sumatra): Screened at Bakaba Sinema, Nagari Koto\nGadang, in harmony with the local community\u2019s storytelling\ntradition.<\/p>\n
24 July 2026 (Yogyakarta): Official Selection of the International\nDjogja Earthsound Fest 2026 at ISI Yogyakarta, under the theme \u2018Sacred\nSound, Shared Earth\u2019.<\/p>\n
Through Hikayatussistance, Muhammad Hendri and Muhammad Maulana have\ndemonstrated that the distinctiveness of Aceh\u2019s local oral tradition can\nserve as an effective starting point for a global conversation about\nmemory, aesthetics, spirituality and colonial legacy.<\/p>\n
The film, developed from artistic creation research conducted in\n2024\u20132025 at the ISI Yogyakarta Graduate School, has previously been\nscreened in the United Kingdom, India and Italy. Hikayatussistance also\nwon the Best Mathilda Award \u2013 Best Short Documentary, received an\nHonorable Mention at Films That Move, and was nominated for Best\nDocumentary at the Sumedang Short Film Festival.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hikayatussistance-acehnese-hybrid-documentary-selected-for-unocolonial-film-festival-in-germany-1785815432", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }