Forum Lenteng is an independent, non-profit collective based in Jakarta, Indonesia, established in 2003. The organization is dedicated to alternative education and media-based practices, with a strong focus on film, video, photography, and other moving-image forms as tools to critically engage with social, political, and cultural realities. Through long-term educational programs, workshops, research, and collective learning processes, Forum Lenteng encourages the use of media as a means of reflection, intervention, and community-based knowledge production.
One of Forum Lenteng’s key initiatives is Akumassa, a community empowerment program that supports local communities in producing their own media and documenting their everyday experiences and cultural contexts. Forum Lenteng is also the initiator and organizer of ARKIPEL – Jakarta International Documentary & Experimental Film Festival, an annual international platform dedicated to documentary and experimental cinema. ARKIPEL functions as a space for artistic exploration, critical discourse, and alternative film documentation, bringing together filmmakers, artists, and researchers from diverse backgrounds.
In addition, Forum Lenteng develops critical frameworks around cinema and art through Milisifilem Collective, an educational initiative focusing on film criticism, research, experimental productions, and art pedagogy for young practitioners. This critical engagement is further extended through Jurnal Footage (which has since been rebranded as Footage), an online publication platform featuring writings on cinema, media, and contemporary art. Forum Lenteng also supports Sigisora, a platform and listening initiative dedicated to the exploration of sound through artistic and community-based practices.
Alongside these programs, Forum Lenteng actively participates in local and international networks and collaborations, fostering knowledge exchange among media practitioners, artists, scholars, and cultural communities.
