Ininnawa: an Island Calling
Ininnawa: An Island Calling explores the difficulties the world’s largest archipelago faces in providing healthcare to its people. An out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach has failed the population. Mimi is a mother of two who, until recently, had left her eldest child at school in the city and traveled more than 30 hours by sea with her youngest child to work on the islands. When her mother retires and passes the baton on to her, Mimi, who has just given birth to her third child, once again becomes the islands’ unofficial caretaker.
Arfan is a respected Indonesian documentary filmmaker, and alumni of Indonesia’s InDocs institute. Born in Makassar, he holds an academic degree in biology. His passion for cinematography led him to documentary filmmaking, which he has pursued for 15 years. Arfan’s debut short documentary, Suster Apung, won Best Film at the Eagle Awards in 2006. His debut feature documentary, The Flame, premiered at Visions du Reel in 2021, in the Latitudes section, and was nominated in 2021 as Best Feature Documentary at Festival Film Indonesia. Arfan’s films are known for having a strong visual aesthetic and for uncovering powerful, unique, and colourful characters with whom audiences feel a personal connection. Both The Flame and Ininnawa: An Island Calling share a sense that large, important, and timely stories can be told through individual accounts of inspiring protagonists.
