‘Si Warik’ animation produced by lecturers and students of the Animation Program at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) received appreciation from the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Ir. Joko Widodo. The recognition was bestowed during the Vokafest and Independence Campus Festival (ICF) 2023 which was held by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education Indonesia (Kemendikbudristek).

Both of the grand festivals were organized simultaneously at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Ismail Marzuki Park, Jakarta, on 11-12 December 2023. The event, entitled Vokasifest X Festival Kampus Merdeka, was a major collaboration between the Directorate General of Vocational Education and the Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology.

The grand event carried the theme 'Building a Spirit of Collaboration to Implement Sustainable MBKM, in order to Build Golden Talents for Golden Indonesia'. On that occasion, Udinus through its Diploma of Animation Study Program participated in displaying the animation work 'Si Warik' and also played on the stage of Vokasifest and Festival Kampus Merdeka (FKM) 2023.

Besides that, the ‘Si Warik’ booth was visited directly by President Joko Widodo before entering the main theater in the ‘Graha Bhakti Budaya’ Building, Ismail Marzuki Park, Central Jakarta. 

Muhamad Naviis Muzakki, a Udinus student who participated in the ‘Si Warik’ booth, revealed that President Joko Widodo expressed his appreciation toward the creation made by the Udinus Animation Program.

“I did not expect that Mr. President would appreciate our work. As I explained about Si Warik, he replied by saying “This is great” toward our creation,” said Naviis.

This work of Animation by Udinus has a lot of life lessons, there are three main characters in the story namely Dian, Warik, and Endog. In the film, Dian is portrayed as a blue-haired girl, dressed in blue clothes and wearing a pair of glasses. The name Dian itself is derived from the name of the place where the animation is produced, which is Universitas Dian Nuswantoro.

Meanwhile, Warik is described as a boy wearing clothes and a mask that indicate Warak Ngendog (a Popular Icon of Semarang City) with a red color. On the other hand, Endog is portrayed as a robot shaped like an egg that can fly, and very intelligent, and knows a lot of things similar to a search engine.

During an interview, the Head of the Diploma of Animation at Udinus, Dr. Khafiizh Hastuti, S.Kom., M.Kom, felt very proud of the study program that she led, is chosen by the kemendikbud team to participate at Vokafest and ICF 2023. He also hoped that by attending the event, students of the Animation program would feel more intrigued to make high-quality creations.

“I am very proud that our work is complemented by President Jokowi. Moreover, thousands of guests are watching the ‘Si Warik’ film showcased at Graha Bhakti Budaya, which is amazing,” said the head of the Diploma of Animation Program at Udinus. (Udinus Public Relation/Alex. Photo: Doc. Udinus Animation Program)