A Tale of the Stolen River

I grew up in Bontang, East Kalimantan, about two hundred kilometres from IKN Zero Point, inside a gated housing complex built by the fertiliser company my parents worked for, fenced, guarded, and almost all Javanese. The local children, mostly Bugis and Dayak, rarely came to our school, and when they did they were treated as second-class students. I lived inside that displacement long before I had a word for it.

The headlines about the new capital are about water use, wildlife and planning failures. This film is not about those. It follows what the Balik people actually live through: the feelings, the daily routine, the nightmares. It asks the viewer to sit inside that instead of being pushed to take a side.

— Mahatma Putra

The construction of IKN (Ibu Kota Nusantara) is projected to cost around IDR 466 trillion. Initially, President Jokowi's government promised that this development would not strain the state budget (APBN) and would instead rely on private investments from both domestic and international sources. However, interest from investors has been lower than anticipated, leading to the state budget being used to cover costs.

On the other side, the discussion on new city development, focusing specifically on issues of spatial control has led to primary concern about building this new city is the apparent conflict between clearing new land and preserving the environment, as well as the impact on local communities. According to Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago, the construction of IKN could potentially displace 20,000 indigenous people from 21 different ethnic groups from their ancestral lands.

Moreover, it's been noted that the land designated for IKN contains at least 94 former mining sites. The #CleanIndonesia Coalition expresses disappointment that corporations appear to have more leverage in negotiations with the government compared to ordinary citizens, who often lack involvement or access to crucial information.

One of the main impacted people are Balik Tribe. They have lived in Sepaku District region since the Dutch colonial era. Their identity is closely tied to the river, and their name reflects their nomadic past—“Balik” means to go and return to the same place. Originally from Balikpapan (formerly Tanjung Gonggot), the Balik Tribe people migrated due to shifting cultivation by water, passing through Balikpapan Bay and then entering the Sepaku River.

On August 26, 1975, the government officially designated Sepaku for a transmigration project, predominantly bringing settlers from Java. This influx of new residents has led to a gradual erosion of the Balik community's cultural vibrancy, as well as the entry of commercial development. As social issues have intensified, the Balik people have increasingly felt reluctant to express their ethnic identity.

And as the IKN project started, it's also the time when the Balik people's life is uprooted. Their local wisdom, their beliefs, and their source of livelihood.