Relational Infrastructures of Inclusive Cinema in Indonesia

Abstract

Accessibility has gained increasing visibility within Indonesia's film culture through initiatives developed by film festivals and community-based organisers. While disability rights discourse has long focused on education, employment, and public services, cultural accessibility, particularly in cinema, has received comparatively limited scholarly attention. This article examines how three Indonesian film festivals—Minikino Film Week (MFW) in Bali, 100% Manusia Film Festival in Jakarta, and Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) in Yogyakarta—develop inclusive cinema practices within distinct institutional and infrastructural conditions. Drawing on interviews with festival organisers, volunteers, bisik (whispering) buddies, and blind audience members, as well as participant observation and programme materials, the study argues that accessibility in these contexts operates as a “relational infrastructure” rather than a standardised technical solution. Inclusive screenings emerge through collaborations among organisers, disability communities, commercial exhibitors, and volunteers, requiring continual negotiation across institutional contexts. Often temporary and event-based, these initiatives nonetheless reshape cinematic publics by recalibrating who is anticipated within festival space. By foregrounding accessibility as an evolving, collaborative arrangement shaped by linguistic diversity, economic constraint, and institutional scale, the article demonstrates how inclusive cinema in Indonesia is built incrementally through relational practice.