Setan Jawa
Live musical accompaniment by singer Peni Candra Rini and her ensemble
Followed by a conversation with director Garin Nugroho.
Kick off our celebration of Indonesian cinema with a multimedia work by its most celebrated director, Garin Nugroho. Setan Jawa is inspired as much by Javanese mythology and shadow puppetry as it is by the German Expressionist silent film masterpieces Nosferatu and Metropolis.
The film follows a poor man from the countryside who falls in love with an aristocratic young woman and makes a deal with the devil so he can marry her. But when she learns of the pact, she sets out to negotiate for her husband’s soul.
Director: Garin Nugroho (Indonesia). Released: 2017. Length: 73 min. Format: DCP. Silent.
Peni Candra Rini is a renowned Javanese singer, composer, and faculty member at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. The Kronos Quartet has described her as “one of the world’s greatest singers.” She is a master of several traditional forms and is regarded as one of Indonesia’s most…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://indonesia2025.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. After Five. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 26, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM.
Opera Jawa
Watch the trailer
In Person: Garin Nugroho, director
Followed by a reception courtesy of the Embassy of Indonesia!
This grand musical film boasts dazzling sets designed by contemporary visual artists, choreography by famed Indonesian dancer Eko Supriyanto, hypnotic gamelan music, and a story based on the abduction of Sita from the Hindu epic The Ramayana. Opera Jawa earned praise from no less a luminary than opera and theater director Peter Sellars, who commended its director, Garin Nugroho, for “creating a new language for film.”
Set in lush forests and pristine beaches, this film tells the story of a potter’s wife who, in a moment of weakness, is seduced by a flirtatious butcher, which sets off an epic battle for her affections. Nathan Lee of The Village Voice calls it “a radiant folk fantasia, at once sophisticated and elemental, freewheeling and composed.”
Director: Garin Nugroho (Indonesia, Austria). Released: 2010. Length: 120 min. Format: 35mm. Language: Bahasa Indonesia. Image courtesy of…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://indonesia2025.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program. Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
Screening and Discussion: May All the Little Girls Win
Enjoy a screening of artist Charmaine Poh’s short films and a post-screening discussion in this special event organized with the Goethe-Institut Washington.
Working across film, photography, media, and performance, Charmaine Poh examines ideas of agency, repair, and the body across worlds. Her work is also influenced by Eastern philosophy, media criticism, and cyberfeminism.
Order of Screenings Kin (2021, digital film, 2:54 min.) , What’s softest in the world rushes and runs over what’s hardest in the world (2024, 4K digital film, 14:30 min.) , public solitude (2022, 2-channel digital video, synthetic media, 4:00 min.) , GOOD MORNING YOUNG BODY (2023, performance-lecture digital video, synthetic media, 6:23 min.) , in the shadow of the cosmic (2023, performance-lecture, 30:00 min.), Register in advance to get the best experience.
About Charmaine Poh
Charmaine Poh (b. 1990) is an artist from Singapore working across media, moving image, and performance to peel apart, interrogate, and hold ideas of agency,…
Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1596572233529?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Films. Lectures & Discussions. After Five. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.