PUTIN IS NOT RUSSIA

Rio Helmi / 28 Feb 2022   Whilst we are familiar with worldwide protests against Putin’s war in Ukraine, we tend to know less about the resistance within Russia. Given the repression that protesters there face this isn’t a surprise. And yet…


Ho Chi Minh Reverie

On my recent, and first, trip to Hanoi, one of the highlights was a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. In particular I was taken by an installation of images that apparently represent the ideas, personalities and events from the early 20th Century…


A Tribute to Lempad, and Layers of History #uwrf14

 This year’s Ubud Writers and Readers Festival’s tribute went to I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, the first UWRF tribute to a son of Ubud. It was particularly fitting that the tribute took place in front of one of the temples that Gusi Nyoman Lempad designed…


Super Charged Albino Expat Syndrome #uwrf14

Made Wijaya, a.k.a. Michael White, convened, chaired or provoked (we’re not sure which) a house rocking panel at the Left Bank earlier today. Invited/seduced/coerced (again we’re not sure which) to join were Balinese Putu Semiada and Wayan…


Silence is Not Always Golden

      Fund raising for Sita, born with Rubella syndrome resulting in  profound deafness.  Penggalian dana untuk Sita, lahir dengan Rubella Syndrome yang menyebabkan gangguan esktrim pendengaran.   This is the story of the second…


15 Minutes with Daniel Ziv

My Interview with Daniel Ziv as he goes to the Busan International Film Festival to premier the theatre version of his documentary feature JALANAN as an official entry in competition..


Indonesia: The Act of Glossing

As an Indonesian born in the 1950s, I found watching the three hour director’s cut of Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary “The Act of Killing” (executive producer Werner Herzog) deeply disturbing. Though it revealed nothing factually new per se about…


Indonesia Politics: Where's the Party?

Originally published in the Huffington Post It’s been a busy fortnight in Indonesian politics. The inhabitants of the capital Jakarta just voted in a new governor, Joko Widodo a.k.a. Jokowi, of the PDI-P party with the significant support of the…


15 Minutes w Daniel Ziv

My Interview with Daniel Ziv as he goes to the Busan International Film Festival to premier the theatre version of his documentary feature JALANAN as an official entry in competition..


INDONESIA: THE ACT OF GLOSSING

As an Indonesian born in the 1950s, I found watching the three hour director’s cut of Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary “The Act of Killing” (executive producer Werner Herzog) deeply disturbing. Though it revealed nothing factually new per se about…