The Eye of the Day documents the lives of sixty-year-old Rumijah, her two sons Bakti and Dwi, and her friend Ibu Sum. In cinéma vérité fashion, filmmaker Helmrich captures the trials and tribulations of everyday life in 1990s Indonesia. While filming a demonstration in 1995, Helmrich was arrested and jailed as a suspected spy, then declared persona non grata. He was not able to return to Indonesia until 1997 - that same year he began following Rumidjah and her family with his camera.