Praditha Blifa Rahayu graduated from Jogja Film Academy and has made several short films, like ‘The Envelope of Grief’ that has been widely discussed in Indonesia. Her latest short film ‘A Girl’ won the Grand Winner award at the Indonesian Film Festival, Australia 2023. In “Maybe Someday” she tackles the concept of blindness, by focusing on two teenage girls.
Maybe Someday is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia
The movie begins in darkness, before we watch one girl listening to a show on her phone, and then switching the lights. The next scene also begins in darkness, where we listen two girls, Sri and Yanti, talking about being blind and the issues their situation has caused in their lives. Light then comes to the screen and we actually see the two girls, walking hand in hand through a school for the blind. They read braille, have computer lessons and tease each other, with their fondness for each other being evident throughout.
In the next scene, a teacher makes an announcement, also revealing that the school is actually an orphanage. A student from the establishment will move to Jakarta, in order to study and work there. It turns out that the person is actually Yanti, something that Sri, who knew nothing about it, does not take well. A fight ensues but neither girl wants to leave things as such.
Check also this interview
Praditha Blifa Rahayu directs a film that is characterized by utter realism regarding the circumstances of the blind in Indonesia, with the way the two girls interact also adding a coming-of-age element that enriches the context. In that fashion, the presentation of the institution the two girls leave follows a documentary-like path, with the same applying to the fact that the two protagonists, Juliana Ira Astuti as Sri and Skolastika Nadya Valentine as Yanti are actually blind.
The coming-of-age elements, some dreamy scenes which are quite impressive visually, and the horse scene add the fiction elements here, making the film more cinematic. In that fashion, Saka Guna Wijaya’s cinematography is quite accomplished, with the close ups working well throughout the 22 minute short. The dialogues are also quite interesting, highlighting both the difference of what blind people experience and the fact that their thoughts and dreams are the same as everyone else’s.
Triyono’s editing results in a mid tempo that works well for the movie, while the succession of the different cinematic and narrative approaches here is well implemented.
“Maybe Someday” is an interesting short, which manages to highlight both the differences and the similarities blind people have with the rest, through a visual approach that is quite pleasing.
