AlterTech was well represented at the 2026 EuroSEAS conference at Complutense University of Madrid! Cheria, Jayed and Rugun (PhDs) and Léa (research officer) actively participated in a range of exciting panels. While Yatun (PI) presented in the book forum 'Youth Activism in Asia: A New Wave of Student Protest and Political Mobilisation', and acted as discussant in a double panel on 'Comparative Identities and Repertoires of Contention among Youth Movements Mobilizing amidst Rising Authoritarianism in South(East) Asia', Rugun presented the experimental film she produced, Golden Island (dir. Arief Budiman), at a brilliant roundtable on scholar-activism. We all learned a lot and it was wonderful meeting old and new friends.

More about Rugun’s presentation:

At EuroSEAS' 2026 roundtable convened by S.M. (Butet) Manurung and Wengki Ariando, titled 'Too Little, Too Late? The Reckoning of Scholar-Activism in Southeast Asia', I presented my reflections on collaborative practices in the film Golden Island. The film premiered in January 2026 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where the director (Arief Budiman), the protagonist (Edwardo F. Kamisopa), and myself as the producer were present. The film is about two friends making a film about the extractive works in West Papua and their reflections towards it. In the roundtable, my presentation touched upon the importance of scholar activism that involves working together with artists and filmmakers to create meaningful films that circulate into international film (festival) circuits.