bendungan

through choreographed gesture and intimate interviews, bendungan is a dance film premised upon the socio-spatial histories of water bodies such as seas, rivers, as well as the human body. it considers the memory of water, questioning how the sea and its waterways—canals, ports and dams—facilitated the dutch colonial project across the Malay World (Nusantara). what do such watery bodies know, remember and circulate? bendungan is an Indonesian word which can refer to a dam, river bank or sea bank. the film interweaves two narrative strands based on interviews with people who live close to water bodies in Indonesia and the Netherlands.

by and with jee chan, Mike Hapsari, Panji Pramayana, Pak Jokowi, Pak Kethu, Ron Habiboe, Margaret Hukom, Arnold Nanlohy, Umi Maisaroh, Claricia Parinussa, Stefan Pente, Nelson Yeo, Duong Dieu Linh, Ainul Fikri, Dwi Wahyu Cahyono

special thanks to all at Studio Plesungan, Melati Suryodarmo, Jeremy Chua, Elysa Wendi, Olivia Griselda, Jereh Leung

a film by jee chan, produced at the Cinemovement Lab VI: Solo. funded through the arbeits- und rechercheförderung of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, the graduate residency scholarship of the Fonds Darstellende Künste and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the NEUSTART KULTUR programme, DIS-TANZEN aid programme of the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland. residency support from Studio Plesungan and Tanzfabrik Berlin. research process supported by Goethe-Institute Singapore and the National Arts Council, Singapore