The 'cinematic' santri

In Indonesia, over the last five years or so, a new generation of santri across the country has demonstrated a progressive attitude toward film production. Mostly using new film technologies such as personal video recorders and digital cameras, many of these young students have made films about, but not limited to, the everyday lives of Muslims in pesantren. Some of these films have only been circulated within the pesantren circuit, but most of them have also experienced alternative public screenings, particularly through social media such as YouTube. A few of them have even been screened at local film festivals and commercial cinemas.