Groh Goh (Rehearsal for Rangda)

Groh Goh (Rehearsal for Rangda) (2023) blends Documentary elements. Top cast includes Karina Utomo, Ni Ketut Putri Minangsari, and Ida Ayu Wayan Prihandari. The plot follows a central conflict that grows in scope as the film progresses.

Actor: Karina Utomo

Groh Goh re-imagines performance lineages surrounding the mythological figure of Rangda: Bali’s queen of the graveyard and patroness of black magic. The story of Rangda, and her alter incarnation, the legendary witch widow Calonarang, occupies a central role within Bali’s spirit cosmology and frames a narrative around an undesirable woman as a dangerous and deviant social disrupter. Alongside her feared otherness, Rangda is also conceived as a balancing force for spiritual order, and a powerful matriarchal protector. The film centres upon a matrilineal building and passing of knowledge around Rangda, channelling her presence through different bodies, performance genres and landscapes.