Opening Screen: A Meeting Place Begins Within the Circle Framing Bury Us in a Lone Desert
- Christian Banyubiru
- Ailsa Luthfia Indrasari Laksana Putri
ISI Yogyakarta Concert Hall, September 22, 2026 — Following the opening ceremony of Sewon Screening 12 and its lineup of programs, the film chosen to open the event, which runs through September 26, took to the screen. That film was Bury Us in a Lone Desert from Vietnam, with director Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc joining virtually.
Bury Us in a Lone Desert follows a young thief who is startled by a plaster statue of a woman while attempting a burglary. His plan falls apart when the homeowner overpowers him. Strangely, the homeowner doesn’t call the police. Instead, he makes one last request: that the thief take him and the statue of the woman from his house to a desert.
“The screening team and the program team chose Bury Us in a Lone Desert because we feel Sewon Screening is also a place where all kinds of people come together. A community space, and Bury Us in a Lone Desert captures that sense of coming together so well,” said Ardian Virgi, Program Director of Sewon Screening 12.
Virgi added that the small encounter in the film changes the lives of two people, who end up in sharply different places: one life comes to an end and another begins anew, each leaving behind a trail of beautiful memories. From this, Virgi hopes Sewon Screening can likewise become a point of connection, both with other people and with oneself, and that everyone will leave with an unforgettable impression.
At the start of the film, the scenes are presented in a circular aspect ratio, which gradually shifts to a standard aspect ratio once the story moves into the desert. This sparked the audience’s curiosity, especially about the artistic decision and purpose behind the circular frame that so beautifully encloses each scene.
Editor Arina Chuuriyyah Herawati
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