Closing Eyes to See
Full film
Overview
- Running time
- 77 min
- Genre
- Political & ecological documentary
- Language
- Indonesian
- Director
- Mahatma Putra
- Producer
- Muttaqiena Imaamaa
- Production company
- Anatman Films
- Location
- Indonesia
Synopsis
Terpejam untuk Melihat begins with the interconnectedness of everything in the universe and ends with a question about how we are connected through our choices, choices that turn out to be political. From an ecological pesantren in Garut to journalists, activists, a Green Party chairman, a Jesuit philosopher and an office worker who left the city to farm, the film follows the many ways people try to build a fairer system: inside it, against it, or outside it altogether.
Narrated with warmth by Nadine Alexandra Dewi, the film closes with a guided meditation: to close our eyes and see our daily choices more clearly.
An independent documentary made without commercial purpose. It was funded by Anatman Pictures' donation to Yayasan Anatman for Community, as part of our B Corp commitment, and is free to watch on YouTube.
Terpejam untuk Melihat
Stills
Mahatma Putra
Director's statement
After Diam & Dengarkan (2020), a lot changed in how I see things. The environment and the universe are connected, full of interconnections, and that does not stop at the material world. Everything we do, however small, carries on and has an effect.
Life is about choosing. An adult faces around 35,000 choices a day, from the moment of waking up until going back to sleep. I used to avoid making a film about politics because I did not feel I had the capacity to talk about it. After learning from the people in this film, I realised that the choices we make every day are deeply political.
That awareness led me to a political choice of my own: to make a film about being aware of our choices, moment to moment. Choices we can see more clearly when we pause, with our eyes closed.
— Mahatma Putra
Terpejam untuk Melihat
Chapters
- ·
Intro
The film opens with a poem in the plain spoken style of Thich Nhat Hanh: touching the clouds, touching the food in front of us, touching interconnection through simplicity.
- 1
Berkesalingan
Nissa Wargadipura – Ath Thaariq · Dwi Pertiwi – permaculture practitioner
At the Ath Thaariq ecological pesantren, Nissa Wargadipura explains how everything in the universe is bound together. Long before democracy and elections, humans were already political, and that life is rooted in our closeness to nature. The same values reappear at Omah Lor, a home for permaculture practitioners.
- 2
Practical politics
Joan Rumengan · Evi Mariani – Project Multatuli · Mama Atha – Sanggar Seni Kampung Duri
Journalists and activists who fight for people marginalised by the system: Joan Rumengan on reporting and mindfulness, Evi Mariani on challenging injustice through Project Multatuli, and Mama Atha, a grassroots trans woman, on who is left unrepresented.
- 3
Inside the system
Anggiasari Puji Aryatie · John Muhammad – Partai Hijau Indonesia · Franz Magnis-Suseno
Three routes within an established system: Anggiasari, a disabled woman advising the deputy speaker of the MPR; John Muhammad of the small Partai Hijau Indonesia; and Franz Magnis-Suseno on how religion, as history shows, can become a vehicle for absolute power.
- 4
Outside the system
Maharlikha – farmer, Banjarnegara
Maharlikha left office life for a village in Banjarnegara to care for his parents and live by the principles of farming culture. Not an ideal picture, but proof that it is possible to live differently, including outside the systems a state imposes.
- 5
Everyday choices
Gede Robi – Navicula · Andre Dananjaya – Kopernik · Komunitason · Mahatma Putri · Nyoman Arianto · Mas Amad
Political awareness does not only happen at the ballot box. Musician Gede Robi, a board-game maker, an eco-soap maker, a waste-bank chairman, teachers cleaning Bali's beaches and Mas Amad, a domestic worker who grows his own food, each choose in their own way, every day.
- ·
Epilogue
Fight within the system, or step outside it; what matters most is choosing consciously, every day. Be a snowball. The film ends with a meditation guided by the narrator, reminding us that we are not only connected but truly joined.
Chapter illustrations
Terpejam untuk Melihat
Production team & credits
Narrated by
- Nadine Alexandra Dewi
Executive Producers
- Mahatma Putra
- Natasha May
- Muttaqiena Imaamaa
Producer
- Muttaqiena Imaamaa
Director
- Mahatma Putra
Written & Developed by
- Mahatma Putra
- Lidwina Audrey
- Muttaqiena Imaamaa
- Joan Rumengan
Cinematographers
- Mahatma Putra
- Abrian Maulana Azmi
- Lidwina Audrey
Production Support
- Sigit Tri Handaya
- Slamet Azis Umar
- Suryo Wijoyo
Post Producer
- Anggita Panji Nayantaka
Editors
- Fahrizal Mochammad
- Mahatma Putra
- Lidwina Audrey
- Jason Rafael Chandra
Colorist
- Fahrizal Mochammad
Motion Graphic & Animation
- Galih Wardani
- Kamaliatul Muschinah
Audio & SFX Engineers
- Hari Kurnia
- Hamurakabi
Campaign Strategist
- Frederica Nancy
Graphic Designer
- Margaretha Davina
Terpejam untuk Melihat
Press & coverage
- 18 Jul 2024identitas Unhas · ReviewMembuka Mata dengan “Terpejam Untuk Melihat”
- 20 Apr 2024Mubadalah.id · ReviewYang Hilang dari Hidup Kita: Dokumenter Terpejam untuk Melihat (2024)
- 24 Feb 2024tatkala.co · ReviewTerpejam untuk Melihat (2023): Suara-suara dari Tepi
- 2024Tempo · Teroka · ReviewResensi Film Terpejam untuk Melihat
- 2024Tempo · Teroka · InterviewBukan Menggantungkan Semua Hal ke Politik Praktis