Odekta

The filming location is the Pangalengan area, where Odekta trained as a part of the Indonesian National Long-Distance Running Team.

I hate running. I really do. I just don’t get it. I mean I do enjoy running when I am chasing something, in a game of basketball for example. It wasn’t until I become mature enough that I understand the chemical reactions that happen within our body that happens after the act of running. And then, I had the assignment to do a short film on Odekta Naibaho, an Indonesian long-distance runner.

I began my research on running to understand what it is that really is the essence or the key to the sport that got so many people hooked. The research started with what people experience during a 42-kilometer (26 miles), why they do it, and how they do it.

In one of the articles I found a poll that indicates the runner’s time thinking about during a race:
40% about Pace and distance
32% about Pain and suffering that they are experiencing
28% about Environment that they are in
That is a large percentage of people thinking about the pain that they experience during the run. Why push through such pain? Moreover, I also found a quote that said:
“When you strive, you do so from a place of love and contentment rather than striving from a place of fear and scarcity.”

A scene from the film depicting the struggle between the body and the mind.

These two are very contradictory to each other. So when someone says that I do long-distance races because I love running, it’s rather difficult to believe such statement. Unless they get off on the sensation of pain?

Odekta’s life story of becoming a decorated athlete was a long journey with a lot of tribulations and challenges. Born in a village in Sumatra, she had a modest farming life and had to walk for miles before reaching her school everyday. Growing up she endured problems after problems and at times ridicule from the people around her. She knew then that she wanted something more than that — more than the cars she was dealt with.

Symbolism of the life she left behind

She decided to move to Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia and pursued a career of being an athlete as she studied. She trained hard while at times experiencing harsh economic situations, recalling times when she had to eat just rice and some crackers. There are times when she sold coconuts to earn rent money, even got hypnotized and lost the money that she had acquired. Things were difficult, yet she pushed through — every single time.

Then the changes started. She got better, she made it in the national team, competed, and started earning income. But it wasn’t all smiles and happy times either. In the 2019 SEA Games in the Phillipines, holding the first place throughout the race, and her body gave out and collapsed — only 600 meters from the finish line. In my conversation with her, she admitted that she was too focused on winning and was unaware that her body is reaching her limits. Big lesson learned.

She redeemed herself in the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, where she won the gold. Her hardwork and hardship paid off, both became an inspiring learning experiences in her life and others who follow her. Another achievement that she was proud of, was to provide for her sisters’ schooling until they both graduated with degrees from the university.

This film, was not a documentary film about Odekta. It was a short profile film commissioned by Strive, Indonesia to highlight the national athletes.

The whole narration of this short film was created in a veiled form of all these stories. A perfect combination of her life challenges and overcoming them, similar to the essence of the sensations of being a long distance runner. This story, teaches us about life.

Watch the film HERE