BECQUEREL

In an alternative future of Indonesia, when nuclear technology reaches the point of generating an artificial sun for endless energy resources, a lazy philosopher Sajad Ali wandering around, seeks a place to sleep. Told in a semi-essayistic approach, Sajad Ali reflects the dynamics of nuclear technology in the future, the politics of materiality through the search for minerals such as thorium in Indonesia, as well as the complexity of nuclear issue in the Global South and its tension with ecology, energy consumption, nation-state and productivity.

Riar Rizaldi works as an artist and filmmaker. His artistic practice focuses mostly on the relationship between capital and technology, worldview and the possibility of ‘theoretical fiction’ (fiksi-teori in Indonesian). His works have been shown at various international film festivals (including Locarno, IFFR, Viennale, BFI London, Cinema du Reel, Vancouver, etc) as well as NTT InterCommunication Center Tokyo, Centre Pompidou Paris, Times Museum Guangzhou, Biennale Jogja, and National Gallery of Indonesia amongst others.

Becquerel (2021), HD video, color, 19 minutes. Courtesy of the artist.

Part of a film program featuring films about the ecological crisis, colonialism, extractivism, capitalism and the complex relations between them.

Next film: Mermaids or Aiden in Wonderland (2018), Karrabing Film Collective.

KIRIK’s 2022 programs are supported by SAHA as part of the Sustainability Fund 2021-2022.