Skip to main content
Sculpting the Giant film image

Sculpting the Giant

This event has passed

World Premiere

Directors Rheza Arden and Banu Wirandoko document a 28-year quest for glory in this engrossing film. Indonesian sculptor Nyoman Nuarta’s goal is to build the world’s largest brass and copper structure: the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue. Featuring two Hindu gods, the statue is to be located in an abandoned limestone quarry in Bali, which Nyoman plans to turn into a park. To meet his objective, the artist will have to contend with public opposition, political turmoil, and many other obstacles… Using animation, archival footage, and time-lapse photography among other tools, Arden and Wirandoko paint a vivid picture of large-scale obsession. The footage of the GWK construction is often breathtaking, and in Nyoman, the filmmakers have a multifaceted subject to centre their film on — he is both businessman and artist, visionary and pragmatist, megalomaniac and humble family man. Fascinating, suspenseful, and marked by moments of vertiginous beauty, Sculpting the Giant is a truly remarkable documentary.

 

October 2 & 4: Q&A with co-director Rheza Arden Wiguna & crew

 

Presented by

Series Media Partner

Community Partner

Directors
Cast

Nyoman Nuarta, Cynthia Lakshmi Nuarta

Credits
Country of Origin

Indonesia

Year

2022

Series

Portraits

Language

In Bahasa Indonesia and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
Content Warning

Graphic Violence

18+
87 min
Documentary

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Julian Grimmond, John Fitzgerald

Producer

Maulana Aziz

Screenwriter

Maulana Aziz, Sutansyah Marahakim

Cinematography

Dini Aristya Wulandari

Editor

Dini Aristya Wulandari

Original Music

Bintang Olii

Directors

Banu Wirandoko headshot
Rheza Arden Wiguna headshot

Banu Wirandoko & Rheza Arden Wiguna

With an educational background in Fine Arts, Banu Wirandoko and Rheza Arden Wiguna have developed a refined taste for visual arts. Both have been exploring audiovisual design techniques together since 2012 and fell in love with film and video as means of storytelling. Combining Rheza’s whimsical visual explorations with Banu’s astute musical sensibilities, they teamed up as first-time filmmakers in directing Sculpting The Giant.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

Dir. Zacharias Kunuk
161 min

When Atanarjuat displaces Oki, the Chief's son, by winning the hand of the beautiful Atuat, his brother Amaqjuaq pays the ultimate price. This cautionary tale showcases the consequences of putting personal desires ahead of community needs.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Agatha's Almanac

Dir. Amalie Atkins
86 min

Shot over six years on vibrant 16mm film, Agatha’s Almanac is an artful documentary portrait of filmmaker Amalie Atkin’s octogenarian aunt, who has fashioned herself an endearingly simple and self-sustaining lifestyle on her Manitoba farm.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Art of Adventure

Dir. Alison Reid
90 min

The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Parsley Days

Dir. Andrea Dorfman
76 min

Kate is ambivalent about her relationship with Ollie. While he's undeniably a great guy, she's curious about what else the world might hold. But when she discovers she's pregnant, breaking up becomes a little more complicated. A magical realist delight!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Outrageous!
Outrageous! film image; two people in a dressing room

Outrageous!

Dir. Richard Benner
96 min

Two misfits find love and support in this cult classic and landmark for Canadian queer cinema. Determined to retain her freedom after being treated for schizophrenia, Liza grows equally committed to seeing Robin realize his potential as a drag performer.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Look Out for Hope + Bill Frisell: A Portrait

189 min

Look Out For Hope celebrates the unique guitar sound of Bill Frisell who has been inspiring audiences and musicians all over the world since the 1980s. After their set, enjoy Emma Franz's 2017 film about Frisell.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema