Organizer: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Type/Location: Virtual
Description:
As one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, Indonesia is facing serious challenges with its dependence on fossil fuels for its energy source. Yet with climate change and the global environmental concerns around energy transition, President Jokowi pledged that Indonesia would reach net-zero emissions by 2060 or sooner and begin to shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy. Dandhy Laksono will speak about Indonesia’s problematic moves towards green energy through his experience in making documentary films on energy transition in Indonesia. Since 2019, he and his co-directors have created a series of films addressing the Indonesian government’s initiatives for green transition and its impacts on social, political, and cultural rights of Indonesian citizens. He will specifically talk about Sexy Killers (2019, co-directed with Ucok Suparta), a documentary on Indonesian coal mining industry and its relations with the Indonesian political establishment, and Hot Stuff (2023), a film depicting social and environmental issues related to geothermal projects in the country. He will also speak about his current project dealing with Indonesia’s massive rush for nickel, a metal that is vital to the green economy.
About the Speaker:
Dandhy Laksono is an award-winning Indonesian activist, investigative journalist, and filmmaker. He previously worked with Indonesian and foreign news channels: Acehkita.com, Liputan 6 of SCTV, RCTI, and ABC Radio. In 2009, he co-founded the documentary production studio WatchDoc which promotes social change in Indonesia through videos and digital media. Watchdoc has produced more than 400 documentary episodes, 1000 television features, and at least 100 commercial videos & works on topics such as corruption, democratic transition, environmental issues, and human rights. In 2021, Watchdoc received the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for the Emergent Leadership for its activism. Upon receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Watchdoc was praised for its “highly principled crusade for an independent media organization, its energetic use of investigative journalism, documentary filmmaking, and digital technology in its effort to transform Indonesia’s media landscape, and its commitment to a vision of the people themselves as makers of media and shapers of their own world.” In 2019, Dandhy Laksono was arrested by the Indonesian police due to his social media post criticizing the government. He was later released due to public pressure and the lack of evidence.
Registration:
To attend the event online, join the zoom meeting here.