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A rare look at the vibrant subculture of Jakarta's street buskers, JALANAN offers fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking insight into Indonesian urban life. Director-producer-cinematographer Daniel Ziv captures the beauty and risks of street life as charismatic buskers Titi, Ho and Boni struggle to make a living. He follows them as they play beautiful music on buses, in markets and on the streets. Personal struggles such as imprisonment, domestic violence, floods and family illness round out the lives of the musicians. We are also invited to the rural mountains to visit Titi's family, which proves a poignant counterpart to the rush of the city. The film gives voice and exposure to the lives of Jakarta's street buskers, and allows us to follow them out of the bus and into their homes. Ziv's fearless exploration of this subculture is beautifully crafted, interweaving the three stories over several years as they find love, seek education and work to improve their lives. JALANAN is a captivating and ultimately unforgettable documentation of oral culture and marginalized urban lives.
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