Private Project

Street Opera

A Street Opera created with the sounds, both rhythmic and vocal of 35 Indonesian street vendors.

Once upon a time in the neighborhood of Depok Mulya I, part of the megapolitan Greater Jakarta with a population of 30 million, street vendors start to sell their products and offer their services to the residents from dawn. But this day something is not as usual.
Mrs. Harti, the Greengrocer is witness of what seems to be a flirt between Mr. Jajang Wahyu the Drying Rack vendor and Mrs. Ita who sells her Homemade Snacks to the residents. Then Mr. Saipul Anwar, the Secondhand Stuff and Junk Collector turns up who does not agree with what he sees. Slowly things get out of hand. Mrs. Ita and Mr. Jajang Wahyu seem not able to explain that actually nothing is going on. No more than innocent smalltalk. But Mr. Saipul Anwar doesn’t believe what he is told. Their quarrel cathes the attention of the regular vendors of the neighborhood who gather and start to interfere and shout their comments in front of Mrs. Harti and some residents. Finally Mr. Saimar the senior Tape vendor takes control and tells everyone to shut up, stop fighting and return home. At dusk peace returns to the neighborhood and it's back to normal.

  • Arjan Onderdenwijngaard
    Director
  • Arjan Onderdenwijngaard
    Writer
  • Arjan Onderdenwijngaard
    Producer
  • Wisnu Heru Luhur
    Producer
  • Mrs. Harti
    Key Cast
    "herself"
  • Mrs. Ita
    Key Cast
    "herself"
  • Mr. Jajang Wahyu
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Mr. Saipul
    Key Cast
    "himself"
  • Nier Castielroy
    Editing
    Lena's Requiem
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 37 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 2, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    5,500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Indonesia
  • Country of Filming:
    Indonesia
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Mirorless 4K HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Indonesian Film Festival
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    April 30, 2022
    The Netherlands
    Official selection
  • Re-Karya International Video Festival
    Purwokerto
    Indonesia
    August 31, 2022
    Official selection
  • Minikino Film Week8
    Denpasar
    Indonesia
    October 9, 2022
    Indonesia
    Official selection
  • Jakarta Film Week
    Jakarta
    Indonesia
    October 16, 2022
    Official selection
  • Jakarta Independent Film Festival
    Jakarta
    Indonesia
    November 2, 2022
    Nominee Audiovisual projects
  • Golden Bridge Istanbul Short Film Festival
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    November 6, 2022
    Turkey
    Official selection
  • Beijing International Short Film Festival
    Beijing
    China
    November 18, 2022
    china
    Official selection
  • Festival Film Dokumenter
    Yogyakarta
    Indonesia
    November 18, 2022
    Official selection
  • Baliwood - World Independent Short Film Awards WISFA
    Bali
    Indonesia
    November 20, 2022
    Official selection
  • Filmyway International Film Festival
    Mumbai
    India
    December 9, 2022
    Official selection
  • International Cultural Artifact Film Festival
    Pune
    India
    February 11, 2023
    Semi-Finalist
  • International Alexandria Short Film Festival
    Alexandria
    Egypt
    February 10, 2023
    African Premiere
    Official selection
  • Zagreb International Film Festival
    Zagreb
    Croatia
    March 2, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Golden Wheat Awards
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    March 3, 2023
    Winner Jury Special Award
  • Indian International Short Films Festival Awards (ISFFA)
    Kolkata
    India
    March 15, 2023
    Winner Best Foreign Editor
  • KOQIX INDIE FEST
    Turin
    Italy
    June 12, 2023
    Official Selection
  • Geneva International Film Festival
    Geneva
    Switzerland
    February 1, 2024
    Official selection
  • CineTech Future Festival
    Opole
    Poland
    February 1, 2024
    Winner Best Editing
Distribution Information
  • Arjanodw Production
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Arjan Onderdenwijngaard

Arjan onderdenwijngaard (Tilburg, the Netherlands 1961) has been professionally connected with Indonesia since 1980. He made radio programs about it, published books, photographs and articles, gave lectures and arranged courses and art & culture trips with his partner Theo Wilton van Reede. After Theo's death in 2009 Arjan works solo. He is active as a writer, visual artist and photographer, both in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Since 2014 he acted in some 15 Indonesian movies, both boxoffice features and shorts. This brought him back to an old love: film. Not in front of the camera this time, but behind it to tell his own stories.
Together with friends he made the documentary film After Multatuli Left (2020).
Opera Jalanan (2022) is his debut as a film director.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Since my early youth I am fascinated by sound.
When in 1980, I came to Indonesia for the first time to make a radio documentary about Indonesian literature I was captivated by the variety of sounds used by the street vendors who passed by our guest house. It immediately brought me back to my childhood in the early 1960s when several vendors still passed by our courtyard. I remember a greengrocer, a milkman, a scissor slipper, a baker and a ragman. Who doesn’t remember the sound of the ice cream man?

In my "radio years" in the 1980s, I made recordings of various vendors that I used for the radio programs I made. Very quickly the idea arose to make a piece of music out of the various sounds, which were percussive rhythmic and vocal. Unfortunately, in those 1980s it was technically and financially unfeasible. The idea never left me.
The many hundreds of thousands of street vendors in Indonesia enliven the street scene and the soundscape in the kampongs, the neighborhoods. With their recognizable call or sound, they sell their food, products and services in all weathers. In these difficult times when we are mainly asked to work from home and not to go outside unnecessarily, they form an army that is forced by their trade to go out every day to survive and provide the households with necessary (food) products and services. Opera Jalanan is a tribute to them.