Rendang of Death

Festival Appearances: Sundance Film Festival 2022, SXSW Film Festival 2021

Roles Performed: Executive Creative Director, Creator, Story & Scripting Lead, Visual Development, Production Assistance, Sound Design

Description: Rendang of Death is many things — an ode to the golden age of American adult animation. A tribute to Indonesia’s fondness for physical comedy and gratuitous violence. The first animated film from Indonesia to appear at both the Sundance and SXSW film festivals. But most importantly, it’s a film about a lunch rush that descends into necromancy, quantum lasers, and large predatory lizards.

We created Rendang of Death during a two month lull in our production pipeline. I wrote the story and script, worked through the visual and character design with our senior animator Andri ‘Yujin Sick’ Abdi, and then helped out in various production roles, including helping to pace the storyboards and choreographing fight scenes.

The film released in March of 2020, alongside another major debut: COVID-19. While this was highly discouraging, the film was met with acclaim by regional film festivals across Asia. This led to a wider buzz, culminating in showings at both SXSW and Sundance.