Two Indonesian videos win China-ASEAN short video competition

Two Indonesian video works have won awards at the 5th ASEAN-China Friendship and Cooperation Short Video Contest in Nanning, China. ‘Kota Kebahagiaan’ (City of Happiness) won an Excellence Award, whilst ‘Boundless Love’ received a Special Micro Drama Award. ‘Kota Kebahagiaan’ is the work of Rian Fahardhi Risyad, while ‘Boundless Love’ was produced by the production house Nanyang Breeds Media. The awards were announced at an event held in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Thursday. Indonesian Deputy Ambassador to China, Irene, stated that Indonesia places people-to-people exchanges as an important foundation for ASEAN-China cooperation. The contest, themed ‘Joining Hands, Heart to Heart, Together for Modernisation’, opened in December 2025 and received 8,774 entries from ASEAN countries and China. Rian said the idea for ‘Kota Kebahagiaan’ was born after visiting a hutong in Beijing. The residential area inspired him to imagine a city where residents know, help, and look after one another. Through his video, Rian depicts a city that supports newcomers in finding employment whilst providing adequate public spaces. He believes urban development should be oriented towards increasing the happiness of its citizens. Rian, who also won an award in the same competition last year in a different category, said his creative process stems from anxiety about various life issues. According to Rian, anxiety is not an enemy but a signal for someone to pay attention to a particular problem. This idea became the main foundation for developing his video concept. He then expressed this idea through the concept of a city that not only solves traffic problems but also helps reduce public anxiety through more humane spatial planning. ‘What if public spaces helped people find jobs, while also providing inner health, life purpose, and hope? Do not waste your anxiety, listen to it, then turn it into something,’ Rian said. Nanyang Breeds Media CEO Gandhi Priambodo explained that ‘Boundless Love’ tells the story of an Indonesian and Chinese couple who fall in love but must face challenges due to cultural differences before finally understanding each other. ‘The shooting was in Palembang and the story is about a Chinese foreign worker working at a power plant in South Sumatra who falls in love with a nurse working at a clinic in South Sumatra. Initially, they were not allowed to marry because of different cultures and lack of family approval,’ Gandhi recounted. The story continues with how their love story managed to survive after they each learned that the different cultures became part of the relationship’s colour. ‘We saw an announcement for a short film festival event from China Publisher and, alhamdulillah, we received an award, thank you,’ Gandhi said. In this competition, 39 works from China and ASEAN countries were selected to receive awards. The winners came from China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. Gold award winners received a prize of 1,000 US dollars, silver awards 800 US dollars each, bronze awards 500 US dollars each, special micro drama awards 400 US dollars each, and there were also excellence awards.