Victorian filmmakers Aaron Wilson and Christopher Cochrane-Friedrich will showcase their work in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta in December as part of the Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) and Jogja NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) Exchange.
Wilson’s feature Under the Banyon Moon, currently in development, and Cochrane-Friedrich’s feature documentary, Aluk, a work in progress, will be presented at the second JAFF Market, where the pair will take part in curated pitching sessions and one-on-one meetings with producers, investors, and industry partners.
Under the Banyon Moon is about a 33-year-old Australian school teacher who, restless after ending an unfulfilling engagement, journeys to Indonesia, where a reunion with her first love and an unexpected connection with his enigmatic best friend force her to choose between nostalgia and the courage to imagine a new future.
Wilson, who has lived and worked across South-East Asia, previously took part in a residency program with Objectifs Centre for Filmmaking and Photography Singapore. His debut feature, Canopy, was released internationally, while his second, Little Tornadoes, was released in Australian cinemas in 2022.
Aluk follows three generations of a family in Tana Toraja (Sulawesi, Indonesia) who live in one of the few remaining villages in which Aluk To Dolo (the way of the ancestors) is still observed. In the face of rapid social transformation, increasing migration for lack of local industry, and the impacts of the climate crisis, the family must reckon with the loss of their patriarch and their community’s uncertain future.
Having lived and worked between Naarm (Melbourne), Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and Sulawesi, Cochrane-Friedrich co-founded the film collective Dogmilk in 2017, the cross-cultural exchange organisation Sipakatuo in 2021, and, in 2024, the production company Cut By Dog.
AFF CEO and creative director Mat Kesting said the film exchange helped build a more connected creative landscape across the Asia Pacific.
“AFF and JAFF have been collaborating for three years and in this second year of the JAFF Market, we continue to open pathways for filmmakers across Asia and Australia to engage in meaningful exchange in sustaining the region’s independent film ecosystem,” he said.
“Together with JAFF Market’s commitment to supporting early-stage projects, we are helping build a more connected creative landscape across the Asia-Pacific.”
The AFF and Jogja NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF) Exchange is funded by the Australian Government, Office for the Arts.
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