This national-level achievement was not the team’s only success. The film was also selected to be screened at the prestigious Rishka Fest and received appreciation on the global stage. Cecilia reached international audiences, including viewers in Bangladesh.

The team consisted of 11 LFM ITB members from the 2022 and 2023 cohorts, including Naurah Safa Ararya Cetta (KR’22) as Cecilia, Vincentius Bhagaskara (AS’22) as director and writer, and Stephanus Jan Deardo Sihotang (BP’22) as writer and assistant director.

This dialogue-free film tells the story of a dancer named Cecilia. The character of Cecilia, a woman dancing on stage, symbolizes the journey of human life. Through the nine-minute film, human beings are portrayed as experiencing various emotions and life events. This message is conveyed through each gesture and action in the film.

When Cecilia dances beautifully, many people offer praise and appreciation. However, once she is seen by more people, her dancing is perceived as poor, and she begins to receive insults and ridicule. Through this film, viewers are shown how people hold different expectations and hopes.

The idea for the short film Cecilia came from the personal experience of its writer, Stephanus.

“At one point, I felt that I had failed at something and was met with criticism. From there, I wanted to frame that feeling in the form of a work, such as a short film,” he said.

In addition, Stephanus has a strong interest in the arts, particularly dance. According to him, dance is one of the artistic media through which a person can express emotion. For that reason, dance became the central element performed by the main character.

The character of Cecilia also explicitly represents women by highlighting the struggles and realities of vulnerability they face in real life. Through this portrayal, the film seeks to build audience awareness of the need to take a clear stance on the specific issues experienced by women.

The production of Cecilia took five months, from November 2024 to March 2025. The process included scriptwriting, identifying production needs, recruiting crew members, and completing the filming and post-production stages.

During the making of Cecilia, the team faced several challenges, especially its director, Bhagas. This film was his first directorial work.

“In LFM, my background is in film appreciation, studies, and reviews. So I had no experience directing a film. At first, it was quite stressful, but everything could be overcome by continuing to learn, because fundamentally a director must have a strong vision,” he said.

Choosing the title was also one of the most important decisions in the filmmaking process. The title Cecilia was inspired by the Cecilia rose. In addition, Cecilia is the name of the patron saint of music in Christianity and also a fairly familiar name in society.

LFM ITB’s Ophiuchus Project won second place at Cinemation Festival. Moving forward, LFM aims to continue producing more short films.

“We hope that in the future we can make more short films. We also hope that these films can compete and be screened at various film festivals in Indonesia as well as on the international stage,” said Bhagas.

In addition to winning second place at Cinemation Festival, Cecilia also received nominations at several festivals, including the UI Film Festival Official Selection, Airlangga Cinema Festival Official Selection, Dynamic Cinema Festival Official Selection, and Festival Seni Televisi dan Film Official Selection.