Elemental Productions

Elemental Productions is an independent documentary film production company whose mission statement is to produce films exploring issues on culture, mental health and personal experience in Indonesia and around the world. The company was founded in 2008 by cultural anthropologist and filmmaker, Robert Lemelson, and is based in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film Title

Type

Release Date

Short Synopsis

TRT

40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy

Documentary Feature

2009

40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy is the first documentary to explore the personal effects of the mass killings 500,000 to over a million people in Indonesia in 1965-66. The film follows the testimonies of four individuals and their families as they break their silence for the first time.

96 min

Shadows and Illuminations

Documentary Short

2010

Shadows and Illuminations is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1: Psychotic Disorder. The film follows Nyoman Kereta and explores how non-normative mental events and behavior, including auditory and visual hallucinations, can be understood or interpreted in multiple ways outside the confines of western psychiatric diagnosis.

35 min

Memory of My Face

Documentary Short

2011

Memory of My Face is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1: Psychotic Disorder. The film follows Bambang Rudjito and illustrates how the residues of colonialism and the pervasive influence of globalization affects the subjective experience of mental illness.

22 min

Ritual Burdens

Documentary Short

2011

Ritual Burdens is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1: Psychotic Disorder. The film follows Ni Ketut Kasih and questions how communal spiritual obligations May Be folded into personal schemas of stress to trigger episodes of mental illness

25 min

The Bird Dancer

Documentary Short

2010

The Bird Dancer is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 2: Neuropsychiatric Disorders. The film follows Gusti Ayu Suartini and focuses on the social stigma of neuropsychiatric disorder and the human suffering it entails.

40 min

Family Victim

Documentary Short

2010

Family Victim is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 2: Neuropsychiatric Disorders. The film follows Estu Wardhani and examines the bi-directional influences between an individual considered to have a disruptive or troublesome personality and his social world.

38 min

Kites & Monsters

Documentary Short

2011

Kites & Monsters is part of the Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 2: Neuropsychiatric Disorders. The film follows Wayan Yoga from boyhood to manhood and discovers the influential and protective aspects of culture that may guide developmental neuropsychiatric processes.

22 min

Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java

Documentary Short

2012

Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java is a film AbOUT Jathi­lan, a folk dance practiced for centuries in Java that uses the power of music and dance to chan­nel pow­er­ful and some­times ter­ri­fy­ing forces.

27 min