This intimate and personal documentary pays homage to an indigenous agrarian culture in Indonesia that centers on a traditional palm wine and blends with a centuries-long religious devotion in the only predominantly Catholic region within the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Shot in the arid landscape of West Bali, Indonesia, Tajen, Balinese for cockfight, follows multiple narrative threads of this ancient spectacle–that of the blade, the rooster, the cockfighter. It is the moment when these elements come together during the bloody match that the real drama begins.
10/7 21:30
In a peculiar travelogue, two filmmakers dive into an ancient rite of manhood in Islamic Java – the tender and raucous sport of the singing doves. When General Zainuri announces the National Perkutut Championship, thousands of Muslim men arrive at the grounds. Seven hundred poles stand in the center. Men hoist their doves – perkutut – seven meters up and dangle them in a sea of colorful cages. A team of judges passes through the forest of tall posts straining to discern the birds’ magical coos. If the judges are impressed they score a bird’s song by tacking a small flag to the pole. After three hours a winner is declared.