Film fest screens tsunami short film

Film fest screens tsunami short film The 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam, running till next Feb. 6, presents the world premiere of Trep Hudep! (Stay Alive!), a post-tsunami short video documentary by Alex Sihar from Indonesia.

The film talks about the surviving people in the hardest-hit tsunami areas of Aceh and North Sumatra. Trep Hudep! (Stay Alive!) screens as part of the IFFR 2005 special programme section SEA Eyes.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a natural disaster occured in the form of a 9-Richter-scale earthquake, followed by a tsunami. This disaster affected several countries, such as Srilanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia. Despite the sadness that overwhelmed them, survivors strive to regain their life with dignity.

This film is part of a work in progress. Not entirely finished it is the introduction part of a series of audio-visual projects documenting the changes in Aceh throughout 2005. The project includes among others plans for feature documentary films about an 'Early Warning System', about Acehnese women coping with post- disaster rehabilitation and a feature film

Trep Hudep! (Stay Alive!) is produced by the Indonesian Community for Independent Films (KONFIDEN), a non-profit institution founded in 2000 aimed at developing, distributing and employing the knowledge of film. --JP