ERWIN’S STORY
Erwin Darmali is an award-winning independent filmmaker and photographer based in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Los Angeles, United States. He is known for his mastery in storytelling, filled with depth and inspiring contents.
He began his visual creative career in wedding photography in 2005 under Apertura Photography in Los Angeles, California, where his strong visual compositions and his sense of moments earned him numerous prestigious awards and articles written about him, including the recognition as one of American Photo’s Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the world in 2009. It is during this stage that he honed his skills and knowledge on photojournalism.
As he believes that sharing knowledge is a vital part of society, he started doing speaking engagements, seminars, workshops across three continents, including becoming an instructor at the world-renowned Foundation Workshops in the United States since 2009.
His evolution continues as his hunger to tell real, impactful stories through his personal projects. In one of his earlier projects he tells a story of a family with a young child who was just diagnosed within the autism spectrum. He combined his photographs with a voice narration of the father and the result was immediate and overwhelming - The family received over 100 messages of support within 24 hours of releasing the short film. The response solidified Erwin’s desire to tell stories that matter and decided that he would leave the wedding world and pursue great stories. Stories that touch and inspire audiences on a deeper level.
Following that, he was commissioned work by Pasadena-based artist Kenton Nelson, marking a point where Erwin started to dive into the art world. Erwin believes that within art lies beauty, feel, perspective, and philosophies. At the time, he believed that art is created for humanity, and aside from philosophers, it could very well be that artists are the ones who thinks about the world the most. “Why don’t I dig deeper in the process of the arts and uncover the meanings and the [why] so people can benefit from it?” And so the journey in arts continued.
His award-winning film The Simplicity of Happiness, shot in Indonesia, received the highest honor at the Films That Inspire Film Festival in Australia in 2020, praised for its moving portrayal of finding joy in the service of others. To this day, it continues to inspire audiences worldwide. Other notable works, like Jim Heimann: Collector, have been featured in Taschen Publishing and Collectors’ Weekly magazine, showcasing Erwin’s talent in capturing the essence of unique individuals. His latest film, The Art of Life: The Mother of Indonesian Artists, made its debut as the headliner of Art Jakarta in October 2024.
For Erwin, filmmaking is more than a craft—it’s a calling. He believes that an inspiring story has the power to change the world, or at the very least, change one life at a time. Through his films, he seeks to do just that.