Minikino Film Week

Since 2002 the organization has routinely held the Minikino Monthly Screening & Discussion (MMSD) events. The monthly event takes turns presenting each of the S-Express network programs that are submitted by a collaborative network of short film programmers from various countries in Southeast Asia.

By presenting one after another S-Express programs and also adding other national and international short film programs, the monthly screening agenda for the whole year is fulfilled. Minikino programmer also present guest program at other international film festival such as The 7th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival in 2003.

The establishment of an annual short film festival has actually been discussed internally since 2004, but has been postponed several times.

2015

In early 2015, Minikino initiated a short film exchange program focusing on the national short film productions, the Indonesia Raja.[1] These activities adopted what was implemented by S-Express.[2] With the advent of this additional agenda, all available programs become too many to be held monthly within a year.

Minikino Film Week 2015[3] (MFW2015) then initiated, basically to deal with this situation. The first festival was held from 12 until 17 October 2015 to accommodate the increasing number of programs that once were meant to be in the monthly programs. The festival presents film selections from its film database and specifically invites short films from directors, distributors, and other film organizations.[4] And also presents the annual short film program exchange; S-Express 2015 and the first year of Indonesia Raja.[5] There were no open submissions.

2016

The 2nd Minikino Film Week (2ndMFW)[6][7][8][9] was held the following year, from 8 until 15 October 2016. This is the first year the festival accepts open submission through MFW account[10] in FilmFreeway platforms. Officially selected international films were presented in international programs, highlighting a particular theme, specific issues, genre, country or region of the world. 2nd MFW also presents several talks, workshops and networking events. And also a short film library for educators, professionals, distributors and festival programmers. Opening a limited access for professionals to preview Minikino's database of  short films that has been submitted throughout the year.

2017 In 2017, the 3rdMFW initiated their annual national competition Begadang Filmmaking Competition.[11] At the same time, 3rdMFW also presents a board of jury that judges and decides on several categories for international awards.

The opening ceremony of the festival, 7 October 2017 was attended by Ricky Joseph Pesik, the Deputy Head of The Creative Economy Agency (BEKRAF RI, then later merged into The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in 2020).

In 24 September 2017, less than 2 weeks before the opening date, security conditions was in high alert due to the eruption of Bali's volcano of mount Agung. 3 locations (out of total 6 locations) of POP-UP Cinemas had to re-planned and moved to the evacuation camps.[12]

The date, schedule and program content have not changed, except 1 cancellation of the last program "S-Express 2017 Indonesia" on October 13, 2017 for considering the young audience convenience at the evacuation camp. This program was supposedly screened at the Youth & Sports Education Building, Bangli.

2018

In early 2018, Minikino Film Week was among several Indonesian delegations[13] brought by The Creative Economy Agency of Indonesia to the South by SouthWest (SXSW) 2018 Trade Show in Austin, Texas. During the trade show, Minikino managed to make contact with the Austin Film Festival. This network then brought several Indonesia's short films to be shown in their 2018 edition. In exchange, a guest program from Austin Film Festival then screened at MFW4 in Bali, Indonesia, during 6-13 October 2018.

In collaboration with RDR-Rotary Disaster Relief, Bali School Kids and Rotary Club Bali Denpasar, MFW4 held a post-festival roadshow to Lombok island from 2 until 4 November 2018. The roadshow held 2 screening events in 2 of the Lombok earthquake evacuation camps, the disaster that had recently happened.

2019

Minikino Film Week 5,[14] with the travel support from BEKRAF RI, was able to invite Roger Gonin, one of the important figures of Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and also Jukka-Pekka Laakso, the director of Tampere Film Festival. Some important names in the Indonesia film industry were also invited and took part in panel discussions and presentations in the MFW Short Film Market.

This is the first time the term Short Film Market is used in Minikino Film Week, emphasizing the festival's sub-events to hold presentation panels, talks and short film libraries, all the activities that aimed at strengthening Indonesia's short film ecosystem and connecting it to the international networks.

This time with support from Purin Pictures,[15] Minikino Film Week is repeating its trip to Lombok in a post-festival roadshow. The road trip starts from October 31, 2019 to November 5, 2019, visiting 3 evacuation camps that have not yet fully recovered since last year.

In the same year, Minikino Film Week became a member of The Short Film Conference the organization for the global short film community.

2020

In early 2020, several plans and preparations for MFW6 had to be put on hold due to the pandemic situation in Indonesia. Yet the in-person festival still managed to go according to plan, 4-12 September 2020. This was the first year for MFW accepting submissions through Short Film Depot. The festival's dates also moved earlier to September instead of October.

Responding to the global crisis situation to reduce the risk of COVID-19, Minikino Film Week 6 had to integrate several online activities, especially for seminars, conferences, workshops and discussions. In addition, in-person participants are also restricted to meet safe physical distances between spectators, and practice all recommended health protocols by the authorities. The number of audiences were limited by the process of online booking and implementing strict health protocols.

2021

Minikino Film Week 7 was held for 9 days from 3 to 11 September 2021,[16] involving 12 Micro Cinema venues around the island of Bali. Responding to the continuation of the global crisis, the festival applied strict protocols to access. At least 1st shot of COVID-19 vaccine or a medical test (swab) with negative result is mandatory to get the Festival Pass. All screenings and activities are still free of charge, yet limited only for the pass holder. The digital or printed document from the audience should always be ready to be shown on the venues before entering the premises.

The festival presents 2 inclusive programs equipped with Bahasa Indonesia Audio Description and Closed Caption, giving access for the Blind and Deaf audience.

Although most of the festival events that had been planned were still able to be implemented, some major adjustments experienced due to the rise of Cov-19 Delta Variant crisis situation in Bali. 1 out of 3 Pop-Up Cinema had to be cancelled, due to the sudden increasing number and high Cov-19 cases in Buleleng area. The location of the opening event which was originally planned to be held in Sanur had to be moved to Geo Open Space in Kerobokan, due to the local lock down policy. 1 program at the open air cinema at Alliance Française Bali also had to be cancelled due to the rain.

Minikino Film Week 7 Post-Festival was decided not to be held this year, due to the uncertainty and ongoing pandemic emergency situation.

[10] [3] [8] [7] [9] [6] [14] [19] [21]

• MFW Official Website (in English)
• Minikino Film Week at FilmFreeway.com
• Minikino Film Week at Short Film Depot
• Minikino official website (in Bahasa Indonesia & English)
• The Short Film Conference