Sundel Bolong (1981) and What to be Preserved

Conference From Home: Women in Film and Cinema in Indonesia 2020

Association of Indonesian Film Scholars (Kafein)

Supported by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Coordinated by Indonesian Film Board – Badan Perfilman Indonesia (BPI)

My paper was motivated by my interest in film, especially horror and the issue of feminism. I believe horror movies can show the subconscious mind of a society built by a dominating system. The film is directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra, titled Sundel Bolong which I think can describe gender injustice during the New Order era. With Barbara Creed’s monstrous feminine perspective, I tried to reexamine the film with two broad outlines, namely Sundel Bolong as a victim of castration and castrater. The depiction of women as both is built by a strong patriarchal culture. In the film, Alisa’s conflict of gender injustice is depicted in almost every aspect of her life. Therefore, this paper seeks to describe the relationship between Sundel Bolong as a victim and the perpetrator of castration from what is on the screen when we watch the film Sundel Bolong by Sisworo Gautama Putra.

Keywords: Sundel Bolong film, castration, abject, patriarchy, monstrous feminine

Negotiating Tradition and Modernity: Javanese Spiritualism and the Conflict of Living
Space in Pabrik Gula (2025)

For Book Chapter : Film, Masyarakat, Teknologi, dan Identitas Budaya, published by IKJ Press

Abstract :

Contemporary Indonesian horror cinema increasingly reflects local cultural identities as well as social and environmental issues. Pabrik Gula (2025) presents a unique approach by linking Javanese spiritualism with the lived reality of space conflicts among humans, spirits, and nature, highlighting the ongoing tension between tradition and capitalist industry in Indonesia.
This paper aims to analyze how Pabrik Gula utilizes Javanese spiritualism—with its tendency toward ecocentrism—to explore the conflict over living space. The main focus is on how rituals and mystical practices—such as Tirakat and Manten Tebu—serve as a bridge between humans, spirits, and nature, which are increasingly neglected. The approach used is interdisciplinary, combining ecocritical theory and cultural analysis with film studies. A close reading of the film’s narrative structure, visual symbolism, and ritual representations is integrated with theoretical perspectives on ecocentrism.

The analysis shows that Pabrik Gula positions Javanese spiritualism as a means of restoring ecological and spiritual balance disrupted by anthropocentric logic. The film suggests that reconnection with spiritual practices rooted in ecocentrism can symbolically address these ecology tensions.

Thus, Pabrik Gula transcends conventional horror formulas and emerges as a critical cultural text that interrogates Indonesia’s relationship with tradition, labor, and modernity. The film demonstrates how Javanese spiritualism can function as an ecocentric medium for expressing cultural identity and social critique in contemporary horror cinema.

Keywords: Javanese spiritualism, ecocentrism, Indonesian horror cinema, ecocriticism, conflict over living space, social critique, cultural identity