Ambivalent Alliances, “Taking to the Streets,” and Progressive Neoliberalism

This chapter examines three stages of Indonesian film activism from the 1970s to the present. Filmmakers’ efforts to affect social change during the New Order era were ambivalently channelled through connections with state institutions, yet in the first two decades of post authoritarian period (1998), filmmakers began to experiment with the mode of “turun ke jalan” (taking to the streets) as a new performance of citizenship. The contemporary period is marked by the convergence of concerns for social movements and the growth of neoliberal policies and ideas. Whilst various forms of film activism in Indonesia have made a considerable impact on the cultural landscape, their embeddedness in major political events and economic structures has helped to perpetuate some prevailing ideologies.