Paper short abstract:

The film is about seeking fortune and fast money in post-tsunami, post-conflict and resource-rich West Aceh (Indonesia). It is a choral description of the relationship between a female-centred agricultural work and the male risky work of gold miners.

Paper long abstract:

Title: REZEKI Gold and stone mining in Aceh

Concept: Silvia Vignato

Authors: Silvia Vignato and Giacomo Tabacco

Directors: Silvia Vignato and Parsifal Reparato

Year of production: 2015

Language: Indonesian and Acehnese with English subtitles

Length: 52 minutes

The film is based on Giacomo Tabacco's and Silvia Vignato's research, respectively, on gold and stone mining and on marriage and labour in West Aceh (Indonesia). It is about seeking fortune and fast money in post-tsunami, post-conflict and resource-rich Aceh. It is a choral description of the relationship between a female-centred, matrifocal agricultural work and landscape (which includes men's work too) and the obstentatiously male risky work of gold miners, up in the mountains, in the pits compounds where women are banned. It is, therefore, a film about young men desiring success and girls, and young women laughing about them. It is also a vision of landscapes of different resources. The film does not privilege one character but is rythmated by a woman's narration. She is a war survivor, a farmer and the mother of two miners. The images of miners descending down the mineshafts are then constantly reinserted in the village everyday life and words. The film is the result of a collaboration with film maker Parsifal Reparato and was shot in February 2015.