Proud! UMN Students Win The Best Student at France’s Shortdoc Award

6 UMN students in the 8th Edition of the MegaCities-ShortDocs Festival (Doc. UMN)

Tangerang – Good news came from six UMN students who won an award from France for their documentary. The team consisted of five students from the Journalism study program, namely Felicia Salvina, Rachmat Kurniawan Idrus, Rega Almuhtada, Rheinata Yuvian Tasman, and Mikael Ario Masri; also one student from the Visual Communication Design Study Program, Muhammad Yafi Rayhan Zainal. The work titled “Jumantara of Bantar Gebang” won The Best Student Shortdoc Award from The 8th Edition of the MegaCities-ShortDocs Festival competition by showing people’s daily lives around the Bantar Gebang mountain of garbage, Bekasi.

Apart from UMN students’ works, two other documentaries from Indonesia successfully passed the final selection. The two works are “Mereka Tidak Perlu Tahu” (They Don’t Need to Know)by Yogi Tujuliarto and colleagues; and “The Rain Collector” by Jeffri Kaharsyah. A total of 16 documentaries were selected by an international jury from MegaCities-ShortDocs and were shown on Wednesday, 7 December 2022, at the IFI (The French Institute of Indonesia) Auditorium, Jalan Thamrin, Central Jakarta.

“The fate of the residents in that area (Bantar Gebang) is very concerning. Every day you inhale bad smells, and it’s hard to get clean water,” Felicia said, as reported by Kompas.id on Sunday (01/01/2022).

Behind the scenes of the UMN student team shooting for the Jumantara of Bantar Gebang documentary (Doc. Felicia Salvina)

The four-minute documentary, Jumantara of Bantar Gebang, is directed by a lecturer in the Video Program Production course of UMN, Aditya Heru Wardhana. In his class, Heru tries to improve his students’ video production skills by giving a challenge by participating in a competition. Heru encourages students to be more active, creative, and competitive.

“When you participate in competitions, you are usually motivated by rewards. If you win, you can add them to your portfolio. In addition, competition can also be a measuring tool to compare (yourself) with others. Is their ability really that good if they compete with other people, campuses, and countries? Then, if they win, there will be satisfaction for the production team,” Heru explained.

Aditya Heru Wardhana, lecturer of the Video Program Production course (Doc. Heru)

Heru said that the information about MegaCities-ShortDocs was obtained from social media and email newsletters. Heru immediately conveys this information to students when there is a relevant competition according to the subject.

“MegaCities-ShortDocs is a prestigious venue for documentary works– like the Oscars for documentaries. Therefore, I am delighted and proud when UMN students succeed there. My name as a lecturer was also upraised. Because the team managed to upraise the campus internationally, I look forward to a big appreciation from UMN by bringing all production team members to Paris,” Heru said.

Apart from the documentary screening at IFI Jakarta, Felicia, Rachmat, and other Indonesian representatives had the opportunity to participate in the screening and awarding at MK2 Quai de Seine, Paris, France, on 15 December 2022.

Rachmat Kurniawan Idrus (Left) and Felicia Salvina (Right) attending The 8th Edition of the MegaCities-ShortDocs Festival, France (Doc. Rachmat)

“Of course, I am happy and proud to be able to meet many people and represent Indonesia. While in Paris, I don’t only want to attend the awarding night but also the year-end holidays,” said Rachmat.

Rachmat advised UMN students, specifically from the Journalism study program, to frequently participate in competitions. Armed with optimism and intention, Rachmat is confident that UMN students can win competitions in other international arenas.

By Annisa Dyah Novia | UMN News Service

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

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