The word ARKIPEL was taken from ‘archipelago’ which refers to a term in Indonesia language ‘nusantara’. The word was known since the early 16th century. Nusantara is a group of thousands of islands keeping long globalization history of politics, cultural, and economics. More than 500 years ago, this region has become one of main destinations for Western explorer whom tried to find new areas to be colonized or as trading partner. Besides the European, there were also people came from the East (China, Arab, and India) which made this Nusantara region as an exploration destination in their trading missions of spices and silk. ARKIPEL – Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival was initiated by Forum Lenteng to read a global phenomenon in social, political, economic and cultural contexts through cinema. Of cinema, it is expected to capture the global society phenomenon, both in terms of aesthetic and socio-political context through the language of documentary and experimental filmmaking.

ARKIPEL is intended to be able to deliver quality documentary (not TV documentary) and achievement of experimentation in cinema to Indonesian, Southeast Asian, and International audiences. In addition, the festival will always see the development of the cinematic language with critical thinking, regardless of the terms ‘cinema industry’ or independent cinema. For this reason, ARKIPEL will always bring a critical discourse to observe it through curatorial programs, symposium, and public lecture to broaden the knowledge of the ever-changing cutting-edge cinema aesthetics.