“I’m dedicating my storytelling and editing skills to craft meaningful stories and support other filmmakers to tell stories that matter.”
About
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Born in Java, Indonesia, Ernest trained in visual effects, cinematography, and filmmaking in Australia. He started his professional career in 2001 as an VFX compositor for high-end commercial post-production in Sydney, Australia.
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In 2005, Ernest took a break from post-production to pursue his passion and interest in photography and documentary filmmaking.
He led the research, recording, and production of the feature documentary Laya Project (2007), shot on location in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.
The internationally acclaimed documentary captures the resilience of the human spirit through the music of the coastal communities affected by the 2004 Tsunami.
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Ernest established and set up an editing and post-production facility for international clients in Indonesia in 2010, where he offered high-end color grading and online finishing for documentary films.
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Ernest is an Australia Academy Cinema Television Arts (AACTA) accredited writer and editor for his work in Indigenous documentaries in Australia.
The Talking Language (2014) documentary focuses on preserving Indigenous language and culture, and Who We Are: Brave New Clan (2014) showcases the urban identities of the new generation of Indigenous Australian.
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Ernest provides editing mentorship at the Docs by The Sea Editing Lab in 2019 and 2022, the Scottish Documentary Institute’s Distanced Stories 2020, and documentary filmmaking workshop at In-Docs’s Open Table 2023.
In Australia, Ernest mentors in documentary producing mentorship as part as WIFT Australia’s ElevateUs program in 2024.
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Ernest has resided in Sydney, Jakarta, Tel Aviv and Istanbul.
Currently in Sydney and available to work in Australia.
EMAIL: edit@ernesth.com
Ernest Hariyanto is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer, writer, and editor.
Ernest co-produced, wrote, and edited ‘Streetside’ (2013), a feature-length documentary that won the Best Documentary award at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival and Best Documentary (People’s Choice) at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Streetside follows three marginalised street musicians in Jakarta, Indonesia who struggle to lead meaningful lives, in a city rapidly overrun by the effects of globalisation and corruption.
He produced, wrote, and edited ‘Let Elephants be Elephants’ (2014), a wildlife documentary highlighting the conservation of the last of Africa's elephants in East Africa. Produced for National Geographic Channel Asia, the documentary was nominated for Best Wildlife Programme in the Asian Television Awards. He edited ‘Plastic Island’ (2021), a feature documentary that explores the extent of single-use plastic pollution and its health impact. The film was nominated for Best Documentary at the Warsaw International Film Festival and is available globally on NETFLIX.
Ernest wrote and edited the avant-garde documentary ‘You Should Have Been Here Yesterday’ (2023), celebrating Australia’s early surf counter-culture and tells the story of discovery, explorations and connection to the oceans, crafted using digitally scanned and restored 16mm surf films of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. The film premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival and was well-received across Australia, screened at the Brisbane International Film Festival, CinefestOZ Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival.
Ernest is a member of the Australian Screen Editor Guild (ASE) and a mentor with the ASE Mentorship program. He dedicates his storytelling skills to crafting meaningful stories and supporting other filmmakers to tell stories that matter.