Constructed

Directed by Jonathan Gradiyan

After 12 years of documentary courses being absent as a form of Integrated Practicum in the Film Department at IKJ, Bikeska, Paul, Arrivo, and Raihanul chose to break the tradition. Amidst the dominance of fiction films, which are considered more prestigious, they chose documentaries due to budget constraints and a desire to respond to the world in a more honest and intimate way. Their poetic documentary film captures two layers of reality: a man who draws architectural spaces, and the laborers who build them. However, the process led to a creative crisis and the images were too structured as the treatment felt like fiction filmmaking. The question arose: were they recording reality or constructing it? The camera turned around, highlighting the team’s process and confusion. Ultimately, the film not only captures space and labor, but also reflects that documentaries, like buildings, are the result of construction and choice.