This work tells the story of the daily lives of two ticketing cinema staff during two incidents that sparked the birth of democracy in Jakarta in 1998 and Gwangju in 1980. They never experienced it directly or went onto the streets to face the soldiers, yet the stories they heard and the voices that reached them felt like an endless war film replaying in their minds.
DMZ International Documentary Film Festival | Paju-Goyang | 2025 | Grand Prize Short-Korean
Wuhan bailin Film Festival | Wuhan | 2025
Jogja NETPAC Asian Film Festival | Yogyakarta | 2025
Festival Film Dokumenter | Yogyakarta | 2025
Seoul Independent Film Festival | Seoul | 2025
Muan Seungwoo Oh Museum of Art | Muan | 2025
Open Seoul “The Konnexcheon Pavilion” | Seoul | 2026
DOXA Documentary Film Festival | Vancouver | 2026
Images Festival | Toronto | 2026
Visions du Reel | Nyon | 2026
+RAIN Film Festival | Barcelona | 2026
San Diego Underground Film Festival | California | 2026
Last May in Theaters
Experimental / 22 min / 2025 / Indonesia, South Korea
May 1980 in Gwangju and May 1998 in Jakarta illustrate how military brutality can destroy a society’s freedom. Citizens have the right to criticize government decisions, especially when their leader acts as a dictator. However, what happened instead was violence and repressive actions by the government.
I was not part of these historical events—May 1998 and May 1980 are events I never personally experienced—but their impact still lingers today. Then what about the stories of those in the same place but lacked the chance or ability to join the fight? Are they also considered part of that struggle and that historic moment?
This film is an effort to gather personal memories from those who felt the impact of these events as part of a transnational solidarity between May 1980 and May 1998. The people of Gwangju and Jakarta have proven that through collective strength and solidarity, they could overthrow a corrupt state system and transform it into a democracy. This film serves as a reminder that every person, including workers in the film industry, must take a role in protecting democracy.
Arief Budiman 