MONTASE’S SHORT: 05:55
It may be that until now, the short film 05:55 (2014) is the most successful film produced by Montase Productions at the festival. This film presents a unique spectacle with an unusual way of telling. The film is also without dialogue, and this is one reason why with the strength of its visual language, this film has received many international awards, such as in the US and Iran, as well as local festivals, not to mention passing the selection in dozens of film festivals abroad. Unfortunately, a prestigious international festival escaped the section only because it had already been uploaded to the public by a festival platform. This has indeed provided many new experiences for us. We know that film distribution to festivals is very costly (more significant than the film budget), even though many film festivals do not charge submissions fees.
What is the real power of the 5:55 movie? Many ordinary people see this as a strange spectacle because it seems without a story structure. The color is black and white too. This film presents residents’ daily lives in the morning, a few minutes before the big earthquake that hit the Yogyakarta area in 2006. The film ends with a terrifying rumbling sound, which is the same as the original earthquake, which is about 1 minute. If 5:55 is considered a documentary, it’s not. Is a fictional film still vague or an experimental film? So what? None of this is a problem. You could say the combination of the three can. This film can be categorized as any film. Still, the most important thing is that this film offers something new aesthetically.
The idea for this film came because from the start we wanted to make a short film with an unusual approach at a relatively low cost. From the beginning, the concept of the film has been able to present a process leading up to the big moment through pictures without dialogue. When we finally agreed on the Jogja earthquake background, one of our colleagues, Tiara Kristinigtyas, was the right person to direct this film because of her personal experience with this event. At first, we weren’t so sure about the final results during production because we thought the film would be too flat. However, when it came to the editing table, everything became brighter because the editor was able to select and sort the images taken to build up the dramatic intensity of the “story” line. With the power of cinematography and the arrangement of its images with a combination of exploration of image and sound transitions, this film is far from being dull. It can even give a sense of curiosity.
Luckily, we have a brilliant musician partner, Anton Asmonodento, who is good at playing classical music on guitar. The music illustrations are heartrending and perfectly combined with the earthquake documentation images presented to make the film feel strong. Coincidentally, our musician partner has pictures of earthquake documentation that he took himself after the earthquake. The photographs he took were extraordinary and very observant in capturing the humanist side of the victims. This film could be soulless if there weren’t these photos.
5:55 am proof that with the power of visuals and audio and budget and minimal production equipment, it can produce something special. The influence and exploration of the medium of film are felt even with a simple idea. Everyone can make this film, but of course, not everyone can get fresh ideas like this. This film also proves that the film medium can still be explored creatively in various ways. For us, this extraordinary film results from hard work due to experience watching films and a deep passion for this medium, and of course, a little luck. Together with this article, we officially publish one of the best films produced by Montase Productions so that many people can enjoy it and be able to inspire other short film filmmakers to work better. Please enjoy.
