May 1980 in Gwangju and May 1998 in Jakarta illustrate how military brutality can destroy a society’s freedom. Citizens have the right to criticize government decisions, especially when their leader acts as a dictator. However, what happened instead was violence and repressive actions by the government.

I was not part of these historical events—May 1998 and May 1980 are events I never personally experienced—but their impact still lingers today. Then what about the stories of those in the same place but lacked the chance or ability to join the fight? Are they also considered part of that struggle and that historic moment?

This film is an effort to gather personal memories from those who felt the impact of these events as part of a transnational solidarity between May 1980 and May 1998. The people of Gwangju and Jakarta have proven that through collective strength and solidarity, they could overthrow a corrupt state system and transform it into a democracy. This film serves as a reminder that every person, including workers in the film industry, must take a role in protecting democracy.

Arief Budiman is an artist and filmmaker based in Yogyakarta. His practice engages with fabricated realities, speculative history, public archives, and collective memory to uncover hidden narratives and erased histories. He uses archives and technology as tools to open up alternative ways of reading the past, blending fiction and non-fiction to create multi-layered narratives that function as forms of alternative history. These works often draw from personal memories, oral histories, and popular culture such as novels, music, and film. More recently, he has developed methods that involve non-human elements to trace histories of violence in Indonesia and across Asia.

His works have received several awards, including the Grand Prize for Short Competition at DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (2025), Best Short Documentary at the Indonesian Film Festival (2023), and the Julius Baer – Next Generation Art Prize in the Moving Image category (2021). He is a recipient of the SGIFF SEA-Shorts Grant (2025), and his short documentary received the Sharjah Art Foundation – Short Film Production Grant (2023). He is currently a member of two collectives in Yogyakarta, MES 56 and Piring Tirbing.

Selected screenings and exhibitions include Images Festival (Toronto), International Film Festival Rotterdam, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival (Gyeonggi), Muan Seungwoo Oh Museum of Art, Festival Film Dokumenter (Yogyakarta), Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Sharjah Film Platform, Jogja Biennale XVI, ISCP (New York), Gerobak Cinema at Dhaka Art Summit, Arkipel (Jakarta), Kasseler Dokfest, and Festival Video NodoCCS (Caracas).

Selected residencies include Treasure Hill Artist Village (Taipei), G.MAP Project Lab Global Residency Program (Gwangju), Koganecho Area Management Center (Yokohama), Art Center Ongoing (Tokyo), MIRO Center (Gwangju), Pekan Kebudayaan Nasional (Kepulauan Seribu), and Jogja Biennale.