Basri & Salma In A Never-Ending Comedy

Director : Khozy Rizal

Language : Makassarese, Indonesian with English subtitle

2023 | Comedy, 15 min.

Synopsis

A husband and wife married for 5 years, own an Odong-Odong at the carnival together, spending their days entertaining and taking care of other people’s children without any of their own. Between meddling relatives, self-doubt and an explosive confrontation, they uncover why they have not been blessed with a child.

Director’s Statement
I have a strange fascination with an Odong-Odong, an Indonesian style carousel mini carousel ride for kids. It looks very mesmerizing, vibrant and full of color with their RGB lights. The existence of it gives luminance to this bleak city where we have to deal with societal expectations that are rooted on such strong patriarchal values that have been inherited by the past generations every single day.
Our parents brought us to this world and we were expected to “give back” to them by being nice children, finish school, get a job, get married and expect us to pay their bills when we grow up, and the cherry on top would be to have kids. I was raised in conservative family with such expectations and I certainly will fail to “give back” because I don’t want kids. Therefore I will be considered a rebellious, loser and lonely kid and every family gathering would always be suffocating because I have to deal with judgements and unsolicited advice.
We have this famous Indonesian term of being parents which is “to give and not expecting something in return” and I believe it’s starting to fade away. And also the fact that many people have this religious perception that if you have kids as many as possible will give you wealth by God meanwhile they failed to provide decent and safe life for the kids is really scaring me.
And then I started to remember how fascinated I was with the look of Odong-Odong and it somehow inspired me to create this crazy, funny, ecstatic and dream-like piece of film where I questioned a lot of things and spotted harsh realities regarding children and modern families in Indonesia.