DENPASAR, balitourismnow.com – How does someone imagine colors, shapes, or faces if they have never seen light since birth? This question serves as the starting point for IMAJI, a documentary film directed by Heri Windi Anggara.
The documentary IMAJI premiered at the ITB STIKOM Bali Auditorium on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at 5:00 PM Central Indonesia Time (WITA). The film features Adi Putra Pratama as videographer, Yoga Anugraha as music composer, and Tria Hikmah Fratiwi as scriptwriter.
Through IMAJI, audiences are invited not only to watch but also to listen more attentively. It suggests that perhaps there are worlds we have failed to perceive simply because we rely too heavily on our eyes.
Produced by the Dria Raba Education Foundation, the film invites viewers into the world of children with visual impairments through a rarely explored perspective: how imagination develops when sight is not part of everyday life.
Rather than focusing on limitations, IMAJI places visually impaired children at the center of the narrative, highlighting how they understand the world through sound, touch, memory, and lived experiences.
Through creative activities such as music-making, writing, and drawing, the film captures inner journeys and personal expressions that have long remained unheard in public discourse. The documentary involves 30 children from Dria Raba, with four serving as the film’s main subjects.
“This film is not about what they cannot see, but about how they build a world within their minds,” said Heri Windi Anggara.
During production, IMAJI followed several visually impaired children from different regions as they explored their sensory and imaginative experiences. The film’s narrative is built from the children’s daily lives, placing their voices at the heart of the story.
This approach is further enriched through guidance and insights from psychologists and neurologists.
The presence of these experts is not intended to dominate the story but rather to provide scientific perspectives on how the brain forms images, dreams, and imagination without visual experiences.
Ida Ayu Pradnyani Manthara explained that the film was born from a desire to create broader dialogue about disability while challenging societal perspectives that often view people with disabilities solely through the lens of deficiency.
“The production of this documentary aims to raise public awareness, promote inclusion, and provide a platform for people with visual impairments to share their own experiences and perspectives,” she said.
By combining observations of everyday life, creative processes, and scientific explanations, the film raises a simple yet profound question: How do humans construct an understanding of the world when the eyes are not the primary source of knowledge?
“That is why IMAJI exists—to bridge the worlds of art, education, and science,” Ida Ayu Pradnyani Manthara stated, emphasizing that the theme is increasingly relevant in efforts to build a more inclusive society.
Tria Hikmah noted that IMAJI is fundamentally a story about children. The film seeks to raise awareness and remind audiences that children with disabilities are not incapable of seeing; rather, they perceive the world in different ways.
Yoga Anugraha shared that the film’s musical score evolved through an ongoing creative process. Initially, the director requested music that was abstract yet structured. During filming, sounds were recorded directly from the environment. Some musical elements were inspired by experiences of Dria Raba children using clapping techniques while walking, allowing them to perceive echoes.
These claps generate sound waves that bounce back to the ears after hitting objects, helping the children detect walls or other obstacles around them.
“I also composed some of the music with my eyes closed to better feel and understand the experience,” he said.
Heri Windi Anggara added that while much of human experience is dominated by visual culture, IMAJI reminds us that there are many other ways to recognize, understand, and experience life.
The film is part of the Cultural Endowment Fund Utilization Program, supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, Dana Indonesiana, and LPDP.
Following its premiere, the documentary is planned to be disseminated through digital platforms to reach wider audiences and serve as a source of inspiration for people with disabilities across Indonesia. [darma]