“Can I live from film?”
“Can I grow in this kind of environment?”
“Can I help my family financially?’
“It’s safe now, but what about tomorrow?”

Adi (26), a sound engineer, is part of the film industry in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. He has had a period of uncertainty about his career choice. Can this job give him a living?

After graduating high school in 2014, Adi did not continue his study. He worked in a chicken farm in West Kupang. Once, he was asked by a senior to join a small film production. After a few opportunities, he slowly learned to produce videos autodidactically. His interest in film production brought him to the film community in his hometown.

Amid the rapid development in Kupang, Adi and other film workers realized that their city had not provided a proper learning platform or offered diverse jobs. The choice to work in film production in Kupang is still stigmatized as a trivial job. To learn more about film, Adi and his peers learn autodidactically and collectively in the community, because there are yet to be facilities like arts institutions in Kupang.

At first Adi was hesitant about his career choice. But when he encountered film production, he was sure about his choice and decided to tattoo himself as a symbol against the experience when joining the uniformed authority entrance test.

“At first I was hesitant, am I in the right way? But when I decided to choose this way, it is my way. And I’m sure about my choice.”