Nature has a way of mending the fatigue imposed by the modern lifestyle, as one local filmmaker recently discovered. Arrested by the need to liberate himself from the urban jungle of Kuala Lumpur, Syahmi Norsan and his colleague went on an escapade to a part of Indonesia left relatively untouched by civilization. Their collective memories have taken form as a short film called “Tanah Asing”, or foreign land.
“We left Kuala Lumpur for Surabaya and then to Bali. It took us 8 days of travelling; we wanted to witness the beauty of nature along the way and escape the crazy concrete jungle. I’ve always wanted to film a journey of mine, so this trip felt like the perfect time to do that,” said Syahmi.
Taking his A7S with Nikon FM2 with him for the trip to Indonesia, Syahmi notes that he drew inspiration for “Tanah Asing” from “Loving Lanka“, a film by one of his favourite filmmakers, Sebastina Linda.
“Tanah Asing is about experiencing a foreign land with zero expectations. It also intends to convey the message of ‘menikmati itu bila kau mengerti untuk menghayati’, meaning that in order to enjoy the moment you need to understand true appreciation first. I’ve met with a lot of nice people and saw beautiful places. To me, the journey isn’t counted by miles but by memories” said Syahmi.
If you loved the short film, don’t forget to check out his other works too on his official blog here.
