The Bali-Glasgow Filmmaker Exchange is a residency programme for Indonesian and Scottish filmmakers, made possible with the support of the British Council Connections Through Culture (CTC) grant programme. Connections Through Culture was introduced by the British Council in the UK and East Asia to foster international collaborations through arts and culture.
This exchange programme initiates creative dialogue around environmental sustainability, social change and empowerment between Glasgow Short Film Festival and Minikino (Bali), through an exchange of short films, filmmaker residencies, and workshops at each other’s festivals. Each partner will host screening programmes and filmmakers from the other’s country, offering residencies that include community workshops, masterclasses, and connections with local production networks. The project aims to build common ground around shared challenges and develop plans for long-term collaboration focused on social change and inclusion.
BALI FILMMAKER RESIDENCY, 11-27 SEPTEMBER 2025
In May 2024, we launched a callout for the Bali residency. From 43 applicants, we were delighted to select Holly Márie Parnell, an Irish artist based in Glasgow and working in film and expanded cinema. Motivated by personal encounters, Holly’s practice is rooted in a documentary approach, often exploring the tensions of an external world that is growing increasingly distant from our internal needs. Her most recent work Hole in the Stone premiered at GSFF in March. Holly writes here about her experience of Bali and the residency.
It is not my natural tendency to record my experiences in words. Mostly I record my experiences through film because it allows for wordless communication. But in a way, having to re-translate your experiences in words forces you out of a kind of passivity, which I appreciate. Forces you to anchor things differently. To get some inspiration to write this, I first read Haris Yuliyanto’s diary-esque blog of his experience in Scotland: this past year, the British Council funded a filmmaker residency exchange program between Glasgow Short Film Festival and Minikino Film Week, Bali International Short Film Festival. Haris came to Glasgow in March, and I went to Bali in September.
It almost feels as though Haris and I had inverse experiences, not just in the obvious elemental way like temperature and landscape, but more so in tone and rhythm. Words like silently, quietly, slowly described the energy he was encountering and navigating, while mine was one of saturation, sound, and a kind of sensory overwhelm that demanded attention rather than contemplation.
Also in contrast to Haris, my residency began at the start of the festival – full of energy, a meeting place of long formed friendships and ever expanding new ones. Whenever I attend smaller festivals, like Minikino or GSFF, I am always reaffirmed of how special they are, in contrast to the larger ones, where natural moments of connection are often eclipsed by industry focused energy. The existence of these kind of festivals are so important; they are the seeds of the ecosystem itself.
Being an artist and filmmaker is undoubtedly a precarious path, full of uncertainty and challenge. Yet one of its greatest gifts, for me, is the chance to meet people from different places and contexts—who are bound together by a shared passion for film. It creates an instant kind of fluency between us, especially when you encounter someone whose sensibilities and tastes align with your own. I’ve never had the opportunity to travel to Asia before, so to meet people in such a different setting who hold the same affection for certain filmmakers, eras, and techniques fills me with a deep sense of affirmation or connection. It reminds me: yes, this is why I do this, why I keep doing this.
The festival was non-stop from the very beginning, and I was welcomed with such warmth and generosity to come inside it by the wonderful directors Fransiska Prihadi and Edo Wulia: I shared two of my recent films, Cabbage (2023) and Hole in the Stone (2025), as well as a live video performance during the closing ceremony. Just three days beforehand, Edo and I decided he would join me on stage with live drumming, and we also invited the wonderful Ren, a Paris-based actress, to perform alongside us. My live works have always carried a certain on-the-fly energy; while I rehearse them carefully, it’s important to me to leave enough space and air for spontaneous collaborations to emerge – this one felt particularly special.
The entire residency was so generous and thoughtfully organised —an incredibly rich experience that extended far beyond the film festival itself. It included travelling to north Bali (with two lovely Minikino interns Aulia and Hilmi), staying in the old cultural village of Pedawa, and visiting another community cinema in Lovina run by another wonderful filmmaker Putu Kusuma Wijaya. I felt very fortunate to be immersed in experiences that allowed me to be inside ‘the real’ of the place and sidestepping the more extractive and detached forms of digital nomadism and the neo-colonial undercurrent that still shapes certain kinds of tourism there. Even after leaving, the conversations and exchanges have continued—through WhatsApp messages and pen-pal-like emails where we are sharing rough cuts and thoughts in progress.
I loved discovering the work of local filmmakers, and even after my residency ended, I found myself returning to MASH Denpasar, the festival’s hub, to explore Minikino’s film archive. There, I watched some remarkable past works by Indonesian filmmakers such as Muhammad Heri Fadli and Andrea Suwito, which left a lasting impression on me. I also ventured to the middle of the island to visit the art space of Ruang Arta Derau, where they were hosting an exhibition and book launch of renowned Balinese artist Citra Sasmita. It was here that a very special connection took place. There was a Balinese electronic sound artist Agha Praditya whose live performance provided a rich sonic backdrop for the event. [Citra has collaborated with him previously, where Agha composed the sound for an exhibition Citra had at the Barbican in London.] I felt immediately hypnotised and drawn in by his work – and we have continued to stay in touch, and are currently planning a collaboration together.I’m not sure I can quite pinpoint why, but this residency has by far been the most meaningful one I’ve ever experienced, and has stirred something in me — a sense of life and inspiration I hadn’t noticed had faded. I’m just grateful that this opportunity has created a space for new things to emerge and begin, rather than feeling like something has ended. My endless thanks and gratitude to the GSFF, Minikino and British Council for this once in a lifetime experience.
–Holly Márie Parnell on Minikino Film Week, 2025
