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.
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Arjan OnderdenwijngaardDirector
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Arjan OnderdenwijngaardWriter
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Arjan OnderdenwijngaardProducer
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Wisnu Heru LuhurProducer
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Mrs. HartiKey Cast"herself"
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Mrs. ItaKey Cast"herself"
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Mr. Jajang WahyuKey Cast"himself"
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Mr. SaipulKey Cast"himself"
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Nier CastielroyEditingLena's Requiem
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Project Type:Experimental, Short
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Runtime:15 minutes 37 seconds
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Completion Date:April 2, 2022
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Production Budget:5,500 EUR
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Country of Origin:Indonesia
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Country of Filming:Indonesia
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Shooting Format:Digital Mirorless 4K HD
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Indonesian Film FestivalAmsterdam
Netherlands
April 30, 2022
The Netherlands
Official selection -
Re-Karya International Video FestivalPurwokerto
Indonesia
August 31, 2022
Official selection -
Minikino Film Week8Denpasar
Indonesia
October 9, 2022
Indonesia
Official selection -
Jakarta Film WeekJakarta
Indonesia
October 16, 2022
Official selection -
Jakarta Independent Film FestivalJakarta
Indonesia
November 2, 2022
Nominee Audiovisual projects -
Golden Bridge Istanbul Short Film FestivalIstanbul
Turkey
November 6, 2022
Turkey
Official selection -
Beijing International Short Film FestivalBeijing
China
November 18, 2022
china
Official selection -
Festival Film DokumenterYogyakarta
Indonesia
November 18, 2022
Official selection -
Baliwood - World Independent Short Film Awards WISFABali
Indonesia
November 20, 2022
Official selection -
Filmyway International Film FestivalMumbai
India
December 9, 2022
Official selection -
International Cultural Artifact Film FestivalPune
India
February 11, 2023
Semi-Finalist -
International Alexandria Short Film FestivalAlexandria
Egypt
February 10, 2023
African Premiere
Official selection -
Zagreb International Film FestivalZagreb
Croatia
March 2, 2023
Official Selection -
Golden Wheat AwardsIstanbul
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 FESTTurin
Italy
June 12, 2023
Official Selection -
Geneva International Film FestivalGeneva
Switzerland
February 1, 2024
Official selection -
CineTech Future FestivalOpole
Poland
February 1, 2024
Winner Best Editing
Distribution Information
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Arjanodw ProductionSales AgentCountry: WorldwideRights: All Rights
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.
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.