Cultural preservation can be carried out in various ways in this modern era. Although the main way that must be implemented is how the culture is continuously implemented, there are other ways that are a form of utilizing modern technology that can be used to support cultural preservation. One way that is considered quite effective is through the making and showing of documentary films. Therefore, one of the villages, namely Limalas, which is located in Raja Ampat Regency, South West Papua Province, held a documentary film festival. It can be said that this film festival is the first festival event held in Limalas and received high enthusiasm from the local community.
The documentary films screened at the Limalas Film Festival are several films that tell about the lives of the indigenous tribe living in Limalas Village, namely the Matbat Tribe. The film making process has been carried out previously by the Matbat Institute Community, which consists of documentary film activists who care about preserving the culture of the Matbat Tribe. Several other parties are also involved in the film festival process, from making the documentary film to the screening process. The Matbat Institute is assisted by several parties who are already accustomed to holding film festivals, namely the Atap Langit Community, Papuan Voices, and Belantara Papua.
The community response in Limalas Village welcomed the festival positively. The community even supported the holding of a film festival that aims to preserve the culture of the Matbat Tribe. The form of support given was that there were elements of society in Limalas Village who helped the film festival process such as from the church, community leaders, and of course the Limalas Village government.
The film festival held in Limalas Village did not only hold a joint screening of a documentary film about the Matbat Tribe that had been made. However, there was a series of events such as a suling tambur or flute drum competition, a traditional musical instrument from the Matbat Tribe that is often performed in certain traditional ceremonies. Such activities are still in line with the theme carried by the Matbat Institute in organizing the Limalas Film Festival, namely “Together Preserving Nature and Culture with Love.”.
The hope of the Limalas Village community is that such a film festival can be held every year. In addition, the community also wants to be involved in the film-making process so that there is a possibility that at the next film festival, their work will be displayed and watched together. Meanwhile, the hope of the Matbat Institute as the organizer is how the Limalas Film Festival can make the indigenous people there, especially the Matbat Tribe, to continue to preserve the culture they have and not let the culture be eroded by the development of the times, but rather the increasingly modern era can support the process of preserving culture. The hope in the future is of course that documentary films about the Matbat Tribe that have been made and shown at the film festival can be distributed to all regions in Indonesia to be better known.
