Alfred Pek and Melissa Green are the director and producer of the upcoming documentary The Emerald’s Touch. The movie follows Indonesia’s first and rising trans politician and queer activist Hendrika Kelan as she navigates Indonesia’s turbulent and eroding democracy and LGBTQ+ rights. In Hendrika’s journey of leadership and building feminist intersectionality across the country, she has partnered up with Saskia Wieringa, a Dutch Lesbian sociologist who is proactively decolonising queer women’s voices and their history across the Nusantara archipelago. The documentary is a celebration of Indonesia’s vibrant queer community, shedding light on the various stories of lesbian, trans, queer, and non-binary people amidst growing threats to their rights and democracy. Please consider supporting The Emerald’s Touch by donating to their fundraiser, or by sharing their project.
Header photo by Alfred Pek
MG: “The Emerald’s Touch is a compelling documentary that follows the quest of Indonesia’s first trans politician and queer activist Hendrika Kelan as she navigates these tough times for the LGBTQ+ community. Through this documentary, we will be shining a light on her story, but also the stories of lesbian, trans, queer, pansexual, and non-binary people and women, and exploring their history and culture throughout Indonesia.
What we have found is that there have been a lot of documentaries focusing on gay men within the community, and some which looked at trans women in Indonesia. However, after doing research, and also working with Dutch sociologist Saskia Wieringa, we discovered that there were few accounts of the experiences of lesbian, queer, non-binary, and especially, trans people. Our goal is to follow Bunda as she takes us into the lives and different cultures of these communities.”
AP: “When it comes to documentary spaces in Indonesia and also around the world, there’s very little advocacy efforts for and representation of queer people, especially queer women, lesbians, and trans women. It just doesn’t get talked about. When it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, or LGBTQ+ representation in general, the situation in Indonesia is worsening. With the government facing more and more economic challenges, the LGBTQ+ community is increasingly used as a scapegoat. Just recently, a new bill was proposed to increase censorship of LGBTQ+ content. There are existing discriminatory laws like the National Pornography Act and the Anti-Adultery Act, and other laws and bills that disproportionately affect the LGBT community. Even if it’s not illegal to be part of the LGBTQ+ community or to have sex in that regard, it is still frowned upon by society.”
AP: “Actually, the one thing that the Dutch did not do, due to their own arrogance, is creating discriminatory laws against their subjects. In the way that they perceived the world, they didn’t really see the Indonesian subjects as worth mentioning in their laws, so through neglect, they essentially provided no precedent for any legal framework that discriminates against the LGBTQ+ community.”
Despite this, Alfred speaks further about the impact of Dutch colonialism on Indonesian society, with gender norms and patriarchy being imported via colonialism.
“The legacy of the Dutch still comes back down to patriarchy, the introduction of Christianity in some communities, and the general attitude that they imported into society. This essentially introduced homophobia, which used to not exist in Indonesia. And it’s also important to remember that homophobia doesn’t just come from the Dutch who imported this ideology, but it comes through patriarchy, and also through the rise of conservative voices. Islam, especially the more conservative orthodox branch, is a new factor that is more of concern. In this film we’re going to tackle two of the major religions that are impacting Indonesian society.”
MG: “A lot of the inspiration came from Saskia Wieringa. She wrote a fantastic book about the lesbian, queer, and trans Indonesian community called A Political Biography of the Indonesian Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Movement. That was a major inspiration, but Alfred actually was the one who created the idea first.”
AP: “For me, it comes back to my identity as an Indonesian. But I decided to take a step back and not look into gay history, but to look at lesbian, bisexual, and trans history in Indonesia instead, because it’s time for them to be spotlighted. It’s time to finally discover the queer women’s history of the archipelago. And I brought people along the way! And that’s kind of the goal, right? To extend solidarity and build bridges.”
AP: “I’m a queer Indonesian. There are actually a lot of us in the diaspora community. In fact, you are more likely to be queer if you’re a diaspora as well, because a lot of us do not feel comfortable or safe in Indonesia most of the time. But it’s not just about coming to terms with our identity as who we are. This film will also help us rediscover the true history that lives there, that has always been there, because Queer people have always existed, also in the Nusantara archipelago where the film is based.
Although the documentary focuses on women’s and especially lesbian, bisexual, and trans women’s stories in Indonesia, it’s also very nice to empower Indonesia’s very first trans woman official, in her journey of growth. There’s no representation of someone Queer & Melanesian from Indonesia for a documentary this size. Through this documentary we can show the world, ‘this is how we cope, this is how the community copes, this is how we provide hope in times of tribulations’. So coming to this realization, this is the movie that will get them the support they need. It is sad that it has to come this way, but if it’s not us who are empowering them, who else?”
MG: “Coming from a woman’s perspective, one thing that is not really seen in stories about lesbians, and queer and trans women, is how not only are they dealing with homophobia or transphobia, they are also living in a society that is rife with misogyny and patriarchy. Our aim is to show that not only are these women struggling to survive as lesbian, queer, and trans women, but they also struggle under the weight of a society that doesn’t see them as equals for being women. There are a lot of issues with conversion theory, forced marriages, and corrective raping. And sometimes, misogyny is even present within our own community!
In this documentary, we also want to show the forging of alliances between women’s rights groups, indigenous communities, and underground queer networks that unite us in diversity. This film is a call to action, for people to understand the urgency to act, because although there aren’t direct laws against the community like in Russia and Uganda, the more right wing Indonesia becomes, the scarier it can get internationally.”
While the documentary sheds light on the urgency to take action against the erosion of LGBTQ+ rights in Indonesia, Melissa also reminds us of the importance of queer joy. “One thing we also want to dive into is queer joy. Often when we see these documentaries, rightfully so, it is very doom and gloom. We want to create a call to action, but to also show that there can be happiness within your own identity and sexuality. Documentaries like this not only give people a chance to look at a community and their culture, but it also humanises them. It shows how these people, lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans, and the women of Indonesia, are just like you and I.”
How can we support The Emerald’s Touch?
MG: “Donating to our Voordekunst fundraiser is a good way to help us out. Any donation, or a simple post on your page, is helpful.
Please keep an eye out for our documentary, and keep an eye on our social media pages (facebook and instagram). You can also email us at sulingbambooproductions@gmail.com if anyone ever wants any updates or to learn more about the project.”
AP: “Besides donating, supporting this project is invaluable. When else are you going to be able to help and participate in such an exciting movement!”
Follow The Emerald’s Touch to be part of an amazing journey that directly empowers queer women’s advocacy and their global representation in Indonesia.
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Author Bio:
This article is written by Natalie Tai. Natalie is a student at Amsterdam University College, currently studying social sciences with a focus on sociology and gender/sexuality studies. She has Singaporean and Taiwanese roots, but currently resides in Amsterdam for university. She spends her time outside of school volunteering for Asian Raisins and LGBTQ+ organizations.
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