Dragons Disappearance

The relationship between the Bareng villagers and the Saga lake is disrupted by the loss of the water source along with the disappearance of the Dragons who guard its abundance.

SYNOPSIS

Bareng villagers have lived in harmony with nature for many years, perceiving the balance of nature as part of their gratitude. Telaga (lake, ed.) Saga is the center of the village’s life, a lake that overflows with water and is thought by the villagers to be home to a Dragon who is believed to guard the fertility of the land. Mbah Marno, one of the oldest residents of the village, has witnessed the glory of telaga Saga since he was born. One day when he was around the lake, he saw a couple of Dragons moving hand in hand towards the bottom of the lake and then disappeared. The incident is believed by the community to be a sign of the disappearance of the Dragons as well as the point where the water source in telaga Saga disappeared.

Now, Telaga Saga seems to have disappeared. The water that was once a source of life has now dried up and died, leaving a barren stretch of land. There are no more activities of residents who used to utilize lake water for their daily needs. Now, most residents have switched to using tap water to fulfill their needs. The intimacy that once existed is slowly fading away, causing a relationship between humans and nature that was once inseparable.

Naga-Naga Telah Menghilang (Dragons Disappearance) presents the story in a visually poetic and reflective manner, depicting the collective memory, Javanese culture and spirituality of Barengan residents to Telaga Saga. The Dragons are represented as symbols of majesty, balance, and the mystery of nature marginalized by change. The audience will follow Dragon’s journey in telaga Saga, witnessing, feeling and understanding the changes around the lake with uncertain feelings. Nostalgia, pain, happiness, despair, and acceptance unravel into one. A feeling of losing the source of water in the Telaga Saga.

Gunungkidul has long been stigmatised as a barren land. Drought seems to be a regular occurrence during the summer dry season. Since 2016, I have been travelling around Gunungkidul to research and produce my second short documentary film, Sampun Jawah, which tells the story of how the people of Gunungkidul cope with life in the midst of drought. From there, I understood how the people of Gunungkidul relate to such natural conditions.

When I visited several villages in Gunungkidul, I always came across a lake. Telaga is one of the main water sources in Gunungkidul. For hundreds of years, the lake has accompanied people’s lives in fulfilling their need for water. The lake became the centre of social interaction for the community, and later on, customs or culture were born that were directly related to the presence of water in the lake. However, along with the conversion of functions and damage to the environment of the area supporting the lake due to the reduction of plant vegetation that functions as conservation, causing many lake waters to begin to dry up during the dry season.

I realised that modernity often brings a new perspective that nature is an inanimate and passive object, which sometimes places humans as creatures separated from nature. This perspective then results in all the exploitative and destructive movements towards nature to this day. On the logical side, it is clear that with modern development that often does not consider local wisdom, it has the potential to change the micro and macro climate of a place, including natural structures and systems that have been formed for hundreds of years with established and dynamic patterns of relationships between elements. Regardless of the natural system of the lake that has changed, I think what Mbah Marno witnessed 21 years ago certainly has a common thread. The drying up of Saga Lake and hundreds of other lakes is very likely because the ‘guardian’ or ‘symbol’ that nurtures and protects the water has left.

In a mythological perspective, Naga (Dragon, ed) Antaboga is often regarded as a figure who maintains the balance of nature, including the availability of water. The legend of the disappearance of the dragons can be seen as a representation of disruption to the ecosystem, which in a modern context can be interpreted as the impact of climate change and overexploitation of natural resources. When water sources diminish, this reflects not only physical but also spiritual or mythological symptoms. After getting to know Mbah Marno, I learnt a lot about how mythology often reflects a deep understanding of ecology, teaching the balance between humans and nature through stories of gods, spirits or environmental guardian beings that remind us of the importance of maintaining ecosystem sustainability.

This film is a reflection for us as humans to see that nature is not okay. It talks about how water, which is part of nature, is slowly disappearing from the lives of Gunungkidul residents. Through the story of Mbah Warno, who has lived side by side with the lake for 76 years with all its natural conditions. Mbah Marno’s experience of seeing the guardian dragon after the revitalisation of the lake gives an insight into the unconscionable things that happen in the relationship between humans and nature as a form of communication; as well as an overview of how the world continues to change and produce various problems of climate crisis, drought, and loss of water sources that continue to haunt the people of Gunungkidul to this day.