Cry Me A River

Syamsiah, a Balik woman in her fifties, has lived her entire life in Sepaku, Kalimantan.

But when the construction of Indonesia’s new capital began, her world fell into pieces. The river grows murky with soil and cement, the fish vanish, and prices in the market surge beyond reach.

Instead of mourning & seeking help from the government or fitting in with the modernity this new city offers, Syamsiah is making her own future. With her husband, they leave their old house and move to a hill where the water still runs clear. There, she tries to live as her ancestors once did, through planting a small garden and foraging in the forest for food.

However, her son, Randy, lives and aspires to the modernity shaped by the very development that displaced her.