21+
NEXT STEP STUDIO INDONESIA (Anthology): Holy Crowd, Original Wound, Annisa, Mothers Are Mothering
67 minutes | 2026 | Indonesia | Drama | Indonesian
SYNOPSIS
Holy Crowd: After Ratna, 30, rises from the dead during her own funeral, her silent body begins performing unexplained healings, turning her husband Arif into the reluctant center of a growing frenzy. As villagers, opportunists, and religious authorities descend, faith and exploitation collide, and the miracle spirals beyond control.
Original Wound: After their mother’s death, a brother and sister remain in the house shaped by her control, negotiating conflicting memories of abuse and care. As ritual, body, and memory intertwine, their grief exposes a deeper entrapment, one that persists beyond her absence.
Annisa: In a crowded housing complex, Anissa, 14, a blind teenage girl, navigates a world mainly shaped by sound. As a neighborhood national day celebration unfolds around her, she finds an unexpected way to be heard, reclaiming her place within the noise that surrounds her.
Mothers Are Mothering: Nia, 50, in an abusive marriage, navigates a fragmented inner world where desire, memory, and ritual intertwine. A reunion with a former lover reawakens intimacy but exposes the persistence of violence and entrapment. As reality dissolves into hallucination and myth, she reaches for a final, elusive escape.
SCHEDULE
CREDIT
| Production Company | KawanKawan Media |
| Producer | Yulia Evina Bhara, Amerta Kusuma, Dominique Welinski (Co-Producer), Fanni Mardhotillah (Co-Producer), Nazira C. Noer (Co-Producer), Hannan Cinthya (Co-Producer) |
| Director | Holy Crowd: M. Reza Fahriyansyah, Ananth Subramaniam | Original Wound: Shelby Kho, Sein Lyan Tun | Annisa: Reza Rahadian, Sam Manacsa | Mothers Are Mothering: Khozy Rizal, Lam Li Shuen |
| Scriptwriter | Holy Crowd: M. Reza Fahriyansyah, Ananth Subramaniam | Original Wound: Shelby Kho, Sein Lyan Tun | Annisa: Reza Rahadian, Sam Manacsa | Mothers Are Mothering: Khozy Rizal, Lam Li Shuen |
| Cinematographer | Holy Crowd: Vera Lestafa | Original Wound: Vera Lestafa | Annisa: Faozan Rizal | Mothers Are Mothering: Deska Binarso |
| Production Designer | Sigit D. Pratama |
| Editor | Carlo Francisco Manatad |
| Main Cast | Holy Crowd: Prilly Latuconsina, Yusuf Mahardika, Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, Arswendy Bening Swara | Original Wound: Agnes Naomi, Omara Esteghlal, Vivian Idris | Annisa: Choirunnisa Fernanda, Nazira C. Noer, Shakeel Fauzi | Mothers Are Mothering: Happy Salma, Asmara Abigail, Yudi Ahmad Tajudin |
| Director’s Filmography | - |
| Notable Achievement |
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| Contact | official@kawankawan.media |
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
Reza Fahriyansyah, Ananth Subramaniam (Holy Crowd)
M. Reza Fahriyansyah is an Indonesian writer and director. His short film “Rest in Peace” was screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival 2019, World Cinema Amsterdam Film Festival 2019, and Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2018. His short films “West Love” (2021) and “Golden Age” (2021) were selected for the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival. His latest short film “Dancing Color” premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, Pardi di Domani 2022. Selected in QCinema IFF 2022, Hanoi IFF 2022, JAFF 2022, Tampere IFF 2023, and won Best Short Film at Festival Film Indonesia 2022. He is currently developing his first feature film project, ‘UNHOLY ’, at Lodge Red Sea, which won Best Project at the Bangkok Asian Project Market 2025.
Ananth Subramaniam is a Malaysian filmmaker of Tamil descent whose work often explores ancestral identity and family within a multi-layered genre. Ananth Subramaniam is a Malaysian filmmaker whose work explores Tamil-ancestral identity and family through layered genre storytelling. In 2025, his short film BLEAT! became the first Malaysian short selected at Cannes, premiering at La Semaine de la Critique and awarded Queer Palm 2025. His other filmmaking credits include The House of Brick and Stone, which premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival & BIFAN, and Liar Land, which won a Special Mention Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. He is currently working on his debut feature film Pray To The Thunder with support from Cannes Semaine de la Critique NEXT STEP, Berlinale’s Talents Tokyo, SGIFF’s Asian Producers Network, and Full Circle Lab. The project received the Bucheon Award at BIFAN NAFF Project Market, Grand Prize Award at BAFF SEAPITCH, and the Production Award at QCinema Project Market. Ananth also co-founded Idio Sync Inc, an initiative/production house created to develop Tamil culture-infused stories.
Shelby Kho, Sein Lyan Tun (Original Wound)
Shelby Kho is an Indonesian filmmaker and writer who enjoys personifying feelings and operating intuitively across all of her creative pursuits: She has written and directed short films — OCEAN premiered at Singapore International Film Festival (2023), and I Took A Nap and I Miss You at Minikino (2022), establishing interest in intergenerational trauma and woes of the heart that’ll continue to be explored in her upcoming projects, namely her in-development debut feature film TERBAKAR that received the Most Promising Project Award at SGIFF’s Southeast Asian Film Lab 2023 and continued development at Red Sea Film Festival, as well as her first novel—currently pursuing a Master’s in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing at Columbia University and Managing Editor for the Columbia Journal.
Sein Lyan Tun is an emerging filmmaker from Myanmar, currently residing in Recollets Residency, Paris. His latest short film, “Everybody’s Gotta Love Sometimes,” was selected at the Busan International Film Festival 2023 under the “Wide Angle Asia Short Film Official Competition” and won the “Sonje Special Mention Award.” His short film Late Blooming In A Lonely Summer Day has also been selected for international competitions such as the Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (Switzerland), Festival du Court Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand (France), and Locarno Filmmakers Academy (Locarno). His latest short film, One Tropical Rain of Love and Guilt, has been officially selected to compete at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2026.
Khozy Rizal, Lam Li Shuen (Mothers Are Mothering)
Reza Rahadian is an Indonesian actor and filmmaker. He rose to prominence with his performance in Woman with a Turban (2009) and has since appeared in over 70 films, winning five Citra awards. He made his directorial debut with the short film Sebelah (2011) and was selected for Berlinale Talents in 2016. He made his directorial debut film On Your Lap, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival 2025.
Sam Manacsa is a Filipino filmmaker and production designer born in Manila in 1994. After graduating with a degree in Film from the University of the Philippines, she has worked as an art director on award-winning films such as Carlo Francisco Manatad’s Whether the Weather Is Fine (Kun Maupay Man It Panahon), among others. Her thesis film, If People Such as We Cease to Exist (Kung Wala Nang Tulad Natin), was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2017. Sam was selected as a fellow for the Asian Film Academy in 2019. She is also an alumna of the SEAFIC Seed Lab (2022). Her sophomore short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti Section and has since won several awards, including the grand prize at PÖFF Shorts and Regard-Saguenay International Short Film Festival. Sam is currently developing her debut feature The Void Is Immense in Idle Hours.
Khozy Rizal, Lam Li Shuen (Mothers Are Mothering)
Khozy Rizal is a filmmaker based in Makassar, Indonesia. He started making films in 2021 with the short film “Makassar is a City for Football Fans,” which screened at Sundance, BFI Flare, and several film festivals. In 2023, he made a short film titled “Basri & Salma in a Never-ending Comedy ” which had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and was the first Indonesian short film that competed for the Short Film Palme d’Or. The short film was screened for more than 100 festivals, including Sundance, Clermont-Ferrand, and AFI Fest. In 2024, he made another short film, Little Rebels Cinema Club, that had its International premiere at the Generation Kplus – Berlin International Film Festival 2025, where it won the Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film. Beyond making films, he founded Kinefilia, a film community in Makassar that often organizes film screenings, film workshops, and a film festival. He’s also an alumnus of Busan Asian Film Academy, Locarno Filmmakers Academy, and Berlinale Talents. He’s now working on his first feature film, I Wanna Dance with Myself.
Lam Li Shuen (1996) is a filmmaker and artist based in Singapore. Together with Mark Chua, they met while forming an art rock group and started out making lo-fi underground films as self-taught filmmakers. Over the years, they have carved out a cinema of speculative fiction and body horror, exploring existential anxiety, histories, and alienation. Their films have screened at festivals including IFFR (2024, 2023), New Directors/New Films 2023, and BFI London Film Festival (2021). They are currently developing their second feature, Strange Root (Keinginan), which was selected for CineMart 2025 and Berlinale Talents Script Station 2024. They have also presented expanded cinema performances with 16mm and Super 8 projections in Zurich and Singapore, and released multiple albums as the art rock duo ARE.
