A year has passed since our last presentation at Think Film No. 4, in which we outlined the development of the independent analogue film lab Lab Labalaba in Jakarta, Indonesia. Unlike last year when we were just being ousted from the state film company’s defunct lab space, now the possibilities of using the defunct lab is reopening. At the moment this space looks like an abandoned empty building. Frankly it feels like we are once more back to square zero, like when we first went to work there. It needs preparation to become a functioning lab again. Why are we trying so hard to go back there? The old lab offers two things at the same time: vast space and an intriguing past. We just realized that our method of working also changed, as without the big space in the old lab, the possibilities of working are limited to our small-scale hand processing dark room. When we worked at the old lab there were always things or people connecting us to the past that in turn also influenced our artworks very profoundly. We realize how different our works have become. This presentation is a successive update to our story a year ago as well as an opportunity to share what we have managed to create in the meantime.
Lisabona Rahman is one of the founding members of Lab Labalaba. Between 2011–2016 she studied film preservation and restoration at the University of Amsterdam and L’immagine Ritrovata Film Conservation & Restoration laboratory in Bologna, Italy. At present, she works as a freelance consultant based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
All panels, talks, and presentations in English language.
