Observational Documentary ‘Aluk’ Traces Seven Years With Indonesian Tana Toraja Family at JAFF Future Project

According To The variety Chris C.F’s observational documentary “Aluk,” which follows three generations of a family in Tana Toraja, Indonesia over seven years as they reckon with the loss of their patriarch and their community’s uncertain future, is selected for the JAFF Future Project as a work-in-progress. The Australia-Indonesia co-production, directed by Chris C.F and produced by Sam Hewison and Wahyu Al Mardhani through production company Cut By Dog Production, is among 10 Asia-Pacific titles selected for the JAFF Future Project at this year’s JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. “Aluk” follows four members of a Tana Toraja family: Ne’ Minda, the grandfather; Ma’ Adel, the mother; Pong Kenny, the uncle; and Marsel, the son. The film traces Marsel’s childhood over seven years, as his grandfather reveals his ancestors’ way of life — Aluk To Dolo, one grounded in the maintenance of environmental equilibriumNe’ Minda demonstrates how these practices inform the functioning of their tight knit community — one of the last remaining villages where Aluk To Dolo is still observed in Tana Toraja. The transformations their community face are numerous: a majority of the region’s population has converted to Christianity, many young people have left to seek prosperity on neighboring islands, and climate change is already taking a toll on local agricultural production. The stories of Marsel’s mother and uncle delineate two paths taken by their generation — to remain in the village or to leave, and the sacrifices each path requires. An immersive exploration of labor, love and loss, the film culminates in the death of Ne’ Minda, as the family reckons with the loss of their patriarch. For Chris C.F, the project began with research into how people approach death around the world. “My interest in this arguably morbid topic wasn’t born from a desire to be confronted with, or to confront others with sensational images of dead bodies,” the director says. “My fascination with the way we process death originated at the open casket funeral of my grandfather.” The director’s grandfather was liberated from German concentration camps and escaped communist Poland to start a new life in Australia. “It was the first time I’d been faced with the physical reality of death,” he says. “In Australia, it’s a realm confined almost entirely to medical professionals, industrialized and sanitized. That period of time spent with his lifeless body had a profound and lasting impact on me. Toraja is a place where people actively elongate these periods spent alongside loved ones passed, and celebrate their lives in the most festive of ways.” Chris C.F traveled to Toraja for the first time in 2017 with producer Sam Hewison and cinematographer John Hewison, meeting Ne’ Minda at a funeral. “Unlike most people we met in Toraja who had converted to Christianity, he was an adherent of Aluk To Dolo,” the director says. Ne’ Minda invited them to his home to film a ritual for a new rice barn, and they met his daughter Ma’ Adel and her children. The team returned in 2019 for two months, meeting filmmakers Wahyu Al Mardhani and Tasya Amaliah from Makassar, who became close collaborators. COVID-19 closed international borders, pausing work on the project until 2022. The crew returned for another two months in 2022, and Chris C.F returned alone in 2023 to continue work with Wahyu, staying with Ne’ Minda — which was sadly the last time they saw him. Ne’ Minda passed away at the end of 2023. The family invited the team to attend his funeral in early 2024 and encouraged them to continue filming. “We feel incredibly privileged to have been invited into the lives of Ne’ Minda and his family, and to have had the opportunity to create such strong bonds with them over a period of eight years,” the director says. “‘Aluk’ will be both an ode to Ne’ Minda, who passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at the end of 2023, as well as an immersive exploration of his community’s devotion to their land and those who came before them,” Chris C.F says. “‘Aluk’ will not lean on the mystical or magical, instead focusing on the significance of everyday labor and interaction, on Toraja symbols and their deep connotations, on its sounds and rapturous harmonies, and on the human relationships which keep us afloat in the face of hardship and loss — it’s a film about love.” At JAFF Market, the team hopes to meet potential collaborators. “We are incredibly excited to meet Indonesian producers that we’ve admired for so long, as well as producers and distributors internationally who might help carve new paths for the film,” the filmmakers say. JAFF Future Project functions as both a development platform and co-production hub, designed to advance independent works toward completion and distribution. The initiative runs Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Jogja Expo Center in Yogyakarta as part of the broader 20th-anniversary celebration of the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival.