The Cinematheque

“What interests me most is cinema’s capacity to capture subtle elements in nature as well as human emotions.”

Riar Rizaldi

“A lot like worms,” a volcanologist muses, speaking of humanity’s role in relation to Mount Merapi, one of the world’s most active stratovolcanoes. Artist and filmmaker Riar Rizaldi’s debut feature utilizes a myriad of aesthetic strategies to present a constantly morphing study of human nature under the pervasive threat of volcanic destruction. Science, superstition, state violence, and survival are fated to collide as Rizaldi questions how modernity contends with the ancient, volatile rhythms of nature. State-sanctioned paramilitaries, languishing scientists, a documentary film crew, a sad-eyed sand miner, the Indigenous mountain people—how do these characters find their motivation against the backdrop of impending annihilation? And how do we, as viewers, parse through the layers of reflexivity to find our own? —Casey Wei

In Indonesian and Javanese with English subtitles

Post-screening virtual Q&A with director Riar Rizaldi.