REPLACEMENTS
Replacements depicts a Javanese family routinely observing their neighborhood day after day, generation after generation, replacement after replacement.
It is a VR story about roots, time and change.
A Javanese family lives in a fictional neighborhood in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Inspired by people and places that truly exist, they are witnesses of this congested metropolis's urban, environmental, political, and cultural transformations from about 1980 to 2020.
A praise of the satisfaction of impermanent things, it tells about the dented yet peaceful transition of an old traditional village to an uprooted megapolis through three generations.
This experience aims to appreciate and introspect Jakarta's recent history through the eyes of an ordinary family that most of Indonesians, from children to elder people, can identify with.
Director’s Statement
Replacements is a follow up of Time Lapse made in 2009, a film I made after several trips in Jakarta since 2007.
Although I am originated from a village in Central Java, I was intrigued by this sprawling metropolis where villages meet glassy skyscrapers, traditional street life meets modern shopping malls, cheerfulness meets chaos, economical development meets cultural and environmental problems. This city is indeed the fastest sinking city in the world and is predicted to be submerged by 2050. Air pollution, social inequality, corruption and the rise of a new Islamic radicalism are other challenges for coming years.
Cultural and environmental transformations are common to many countries in this beginning of the 21st century. They raise questions about hyper-consumption, hyper-digitization, hyper-religiosity and create new urban, social, political and identity issues.
Based on personal memories and 13 years of researches, I depict a fictive village facing these transformations, in which lives a family whom most of Indonesians from children to elder people can identify with.
This piece aims to introspect this city’s recent history, feel its roots and meditate on how we came to the situation we are today so we may better understand the coming challenges.
Credits
Producer / Director: Jonathan Hagard
Trailer theme: Desember / Efek Rumah Kaca
Assistant animators: Kaori Kida, Dewi Hagard
Co-producers: Andreas Hartmann, Nova Dewi Setiabudi
Distribution: Paul Bouchard, Agata Di Tommaso
Cast: Sawijah Sarimo, Galih Budi Utomo, John Navid
Format: 360° VR Animation
Duration: 12 min
Year: 2020
Selected Exhibitions & Release
- World Expo Dubai 2020 — France Pavilion, Immertech Voyager
- Venice VR Expanded — Bridge to Kyoto Satellite (2020)
- Miraikan — 24th Japan Media Arts Festival Award-Winning Works Exhibition (2021)
- VR Film Lab Kaohsiung — “On Going Home” Exhibition (2021)
- Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace — Jakarta (2022)
- SoftBank VR Square — Japan (2021–2022)
Selected Awards
- Annecy Festival 2021 — Cristal for Best VR
- Venice International Film Festival 2020 — Official Selection
- LICHTER Filmfest Frankfurt 2021 — VR Storytelling Award Winner
- Japan Media Arts Festival 2021 — Excellence Award
- Animafest Zagreb 2021 — Special Mention
- Beyond The Frame Festival 2021 — Grand Prix