The annual screening festival for independent films will showcase 10 short movies and four feature films this year, more than in previous years. It screened four short movies and one feature film in 2015; and three short movies and one feature film in 2014.

This year’s screenings will include the premieres of two short films – The Floating Chopin by newcomer Wregas Bhanuteja and Serpong by director Lucky Kuswandi; and two long features – Potongan (Cuts) by documentary filmmaker Chairun Nissa and White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini (White Shoes & The Couples Company at Cikini) by director Henry Foundation (Betmen).

“We expect another full house this year,” the event’s initiator Meiske Taurisia said.

Last year, the tickets were sold out with more than 500 people attending the event. The same thing also happened in 2014, Meiske said.

Apart from the screenings, this year’s event also invites Southeast Asian Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC) executive director Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who will introduce a SEAFIC script workshop that offers a grand prize of US$15,000 for the best script to be developed into a movie.

“Jakarta will be Raymond’s first stop before touring other countries in the region to announce the program,” Meiske said.

The event will also organize a discussion on censorship with 10 local universities, featuring a number of local film experts, including Hikmat Darmawan.

The event organizer chose the topic of censorship for this year because it was also raised by the film Potongan, Meiske said.

“My film raises the element of human rights [in regard to censorship]. Ironically, when the number of filmmakers that are interested in talking about human rights is growing, we have to deal with rejections from the Film Censorship Board [LSF],” the director, Chairun, said, adding her film explored the stories behind the cuts made by the LSF.

Meanwhile, another documentary White Shoes & The Couples Company di Cikini is a musical documentary featuring the journey of famous indie band White Shoes & The Couples Company from starting as a campus band in Cikini, Central Jakarta, to gaining international success and back again to its origins for a reunion concert.

“The [documentary] project was inspired by the urge to properly document the band’s performances over the years,” said the film’s producer, Indra Ameng.

Two other feature films are Josh Kim’s How to Win At Checkers (Every Time), which is a co-production between Indonesia, Thailand and the US; and Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites by Australian director Platon Theodoris.

For the music, the event will present another performance from DJ Irama Nusantara, a loyal guest star since 2014, and DJ MMS.

Meanwhile for the food, the special menu for this year is Papaya pudding ala Rocket Rain.

Admission is 150,000 rupiah (US$11.30) for a daily pass screening and 250,000 rupiah for a two-day pass.

Film enthusiasts have argued that the tickets are too expensive with some of them rethinking their attendance at the event.

But Meiske begs to differ, as more films will be screened this year.

For those who do not want to pay the full price, she said the organizer also offered a 50,000 rupiah ticket for each screening, the same as in previous years.

“I don’t think it is expensive. People can spend 50,000 rupiah to buy a coffee and pastry in a coffee shop. So in the same way people appreciate coffee, this is how we appreciate our movies,” she said.