Movies
Indonesia
Bunda Shinta Yolla was born in Medan, North Sumatra, and is currently 65 years old. Coming from a Muslim Batak family, she embraced her identity as a trans woman at a young age and shared her truth with her family early in life. She embarked on a remarkable journey in the fields of modeling, beauty, and the arts, gaining recognition for her beauty and charisma. In her youth, she was a prominent figure in Jakarta’s Taman Lawang community.
As time passed, Bunda Shinta transitioned into entrepreneurship. She now manages a cooperative for transgender women at the Al Fatah Islamic Boarding School for Trans Women in Yogyakarta. Alongside this, she runs a café and salon to sustain her livelihood while also providing shelter for fellow transgender women in her rented home.
Indonesia
Rully Mallay was born in Bone, South Sulawesi, in 1961, into a family of Navy personnel. She spent her formative years in Surabaya, East Java, where she completed her primary and secondary education. Rully openly embraced her identity as a trans woman early in life and was fortunate to receive acceptance from her family. This support allowed her to pursue her studies and graduate as a teacher.
After completing her teacher training, Rully worked as an elementary school teacher in Sumba for 10 years. Her dedication and impact on the community earned her widespread respect, culminating in her election as a member of the Bone Regency Legislative Council in South Sulawesi.
Following her retirement in 1993, Rully relocated to Java, living in Bogor from 1994 to 2003. Since 2004, she has been part of a trans woman community and has dedicated herself to volunteer work. She currently serves as a manager at a Women’s Crisis Center (WCC) shelter, providing crucial support to those in need.
Indonesia
Yoppy Pieter is a visual storyteller and educator based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He shoots a diverse range of subjects with an intimate aesthetic.
He learned photography in a workshop held by PannaFoto Institute, he also selected as one of the participants of Permata PhotoJournalist Grant (2011), Angkor Photo Workshop (2012),the recipient of Erasmus Huis Fellowship to Amsterdam (2015), South-East Asia & Oceania 6×6 Global Talent Program by World Press Photo Foundation (2017) and the first Indonesian who received Joop Swart Masterclass by World Press Photo Foundation (2019).
His photography works were exhibited in Jakarta Photo Summit #3 (2014), Jakarta Biennale (2015), Photography for Tolerance and Diversity (2017), Mt Rokko International Photo Festival (2018), SPECTROSYNTHESIS II exhibition (2019) and published in a book titled Saujana Sumpu in 2016.
In 2018 he and his other friends from various backgrounds developed Arkademy, the educational platform which aims to promote and encourage the use of photography as a creative medium in critiquing the self, society and the relations that arise between the two. He also developed an Instagram platform named Heterogenic to embrace the diversity and the richness of Indonesian visual culture, also for sharing and discussing ideas among Indonesian photographers.