Sidi Saleh first entered the film industry in the early 2000s, not long after graduating from Jakarta Institute of Arts,[1][2] to pursue a career path as a cinematographer, the path he chose since he is already accustomed to working with a camera (his father used to work in the field of wedding video documentation).

[3] In his early days as a cinematographer, Sidi got involved in several film productions, Kara, Anak Sebatang Pohon, Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly (also worked as the film producer), and Kebun Binatang (International title: Postcards from the Zoo).

[4][5][6] In addition to the above achievement, Blind Pig who Wants to Fly also won a prestigious award from FIPRESCI at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2009[7] while Postcard From The Zoo competed in the main competition at Berlinale Film Festival in 2012.

[8] Sidi's directorial debut began in 2011 with Full Moon, one of the segments in the film titled Belkibolang.

[9] His hard toil wasn't for nothing as Maryam, a carefully crafted story of a Muslim stuck in the ritual of another religion with someone who has autism while she is experiencing a difficult inner pressure herself, won Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film in The Venice Film Festival[10] or Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale"), founded in 1932 by Giuseppe Volpi.