In the short film Bulan di Tepian Surga, Yogyakarta-born actress Sekar Sari plays a Balinese dancer caught between staying in her hometown or leaving to build a life elsewhere. It's a story that sits close to Sekar herself, who is now living far from home in Melbourne.
On screen, her name is Bulan, a Balinese dancer who also works behind the counter at a small convenience store. She stands at a crossroads, caught between leaving Bali to work on a cruise ship or holding on to the life she has built.
The person who plays her, Sekar Sari, knows that crossroads well. She has stood there herself.
The Yogyakarta-born actress has lived in Melbourne for about 3 years, where she's pursuing a doctorate at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Arts, School of Culture and Communication. Leaving home, she said, was not an easy decision. There was a strong pull to stay in the place she knew, where she was born and raised, but an equally strong pull to go.
That is precisely why the role of Bulan felt so close to Sekar. Bulan di Tepian Surga, the short film she stars in, was recently screened at the Festival Sinema Australia Indonesia 2026.
Saat memerankan Bulan, saya jadi banyak berefleksi tentang diri saya sendiri. Saya mengalami dilema untuk tinggal di tempat yang sudah familiar, tempat saya lahir dan besar, tapi ada juga tarikan yang sangat kuat untuk merantau.Sekar Sari - Aktor dan Penari
Becoming Bulan, though, took more than acting. As a Javanese woman more at home with Javanese dance, Sekar had to embody a Balinese dancer completely, in body and in feeling, down to the smallest gestures of everyday movement. To get there, she took part in workshops with professional dancers, including members of the Bumi Bajra community.
The challenge was made a little easier by the fact that dance was no stranger to her. Sekar has been dancing since she was a child, she said.
Her path to the role had, in fact, been laid much earlier, through research. Her interest in Bali grew during her master's studies, when she researched the island and its dances, and it has carried through to her doctoral work today.
In early 2024, she returned to Bali for fieldwork tied to the production of Garin Nugroho's film Samsara. It was there that she met Rai Pendet, a Balinese filmmaker from Ubud who wrote and directed Bulan di Tepian Surga. The short was later produced by Yuh Rohana Meliala, and Sekar was invited to come on board.
So far, the film has travelled to several cities across Indonesia, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali. Sekar said she hasn't yet seen it herself and hopes that one day it will reach a screen in Australia, where she's living far from home.
Listen to the full conversation between SBS Indonesian and Sekar Sari to hear the complete story.
