Banda Aceh – The Research Center for Socio-Cultural Sciences (PRISB) of Syiah Kuala University (USK) initiated The Veranda Film Festival, a film screening and discussion program with the theme of environment and disaster. This collaboration involved the Communication Science Study Program of the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC) USK and Aceh Documentary.
This activity was held in a hybrid manner on Thursday, July 20, 2023 through the online and offline Zoom platform at the TDMRC USK Auditorium, Banda Aceh. The event began with remarks from the head of the UII Communication Science Study Program, Iwan Awaluddin Yusuf, and continued by the head of TDRMC USK, Prof. Dr. Syamsidik, ST., M.Sc.
The festival aims to facilitate communication between film activists, film academics, film communities, and the public regarding disaster and cultural issues through film screenings and discussions. Furthermore, the festival also plays a role in strengthening cultural identity by providing an in-depth overview of cultural heritage, traditions, and values and finding new insights into cultural promotion strategies through the medium of film.
The combination of Kaliurang Festival Hub X The Veranda Film Festival X Aceh Documentary presented 3 interesting documentary films, namely Smong Purba or Paleo Tsunami (Dir. Azhari and Aceh Documentary), The Tale of Water (Dir. Gunawan Iskandar, Communication Science Study Program UII), and Message of the Ocean (Dir. Mahruza Murdani, BPBA and TDMRC USK).
Through collaboration with UII Communication Study Program, TDRMC USK, and Aceh Documentary, this event presented experienced speakers and discussants. Mahruza Murdani, a Visual Communication Specialist from TDRMC USK and Muzayyin Nazaruddin, an environmental and disaster communication researcher from Universitas Islam Indonesia and Tartu University, Estonia as presenters and Sebastien Penmellen Boret, an anthropologist from Tohoku University, Japan as discussants.
Ari Maulana, a student of Islamic Communication and Broadcasting, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh who participated in this event expressed his support for this festival.
“This activity is very good for students to learn, especially for me, namely the knowledge of disaster mitigation must be learned as little as possible so that in the future we already have qualified abilities in this mitigation. Not only that, I listened to the discussion which was so good because it was attended by experts who were reliable in their fields and there was even a Japanese Anthropology expert who dissected the films shown there were 3 films shown, namely Ancient Smong, The Tale Of Water and The Message of the Ocean very cool.
I hope that in the future we as young people must be more creative and innovative to create good films and hopefully there will be more cool discussions.”
