Pesantren (A Boarding School)

synopsis

Pesantren offers a rare look inside an Islamic boarding school, showing the practice and ideology of a traditional educational system based on peaceful religious teachings that has been practiced in Indonesia for centuries. The school teaches boys and girls to respect and feel compassion for each other despite their differences. Schools like the one depicted in this film are Indonesia’s last defense against rising conservatism.

about the director

Shalahuddin Siregar trained as an accountant before studying filmmaking in a series of workshops including Berlinale Talents, IDFA Academy, and Tokyo Talents. He has directed and produced three feature-length documentaries. All of them have been screened at international festivals including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and Dok-Leipzig. In 2018, he directed a segment of a feature length fiction film that involved five directors and was released commercially in cinemas in Indonesia.