Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Film dokumenter tentang kebun binatang diputar di televisi malam ini. - The documentary film about the zoo is being shown on television tonight.

Indonesian often forms new nouns by combining two existing nouns like this. Over time, kebun binatang has become the standard term for “zoo”, and people don’t usually think of the literal “animal garden” meaning anymore in everyday speech—just like English speakers don’t think of “butter” + “fly” when they say “butterfly”.

Why is it film dokumenter, not dokumenter film?

In Indonesian, the typical order is:

Noun + describing word

So:

film dokumenter = documentary film
buku merah = red book
kucing hitam = black cat

Dokumenter here behaves like an adjective describing the noun film, so it comes after the noun.
Putting it as dokumenter film would sound wrong or at least unnatural; Indonesian does not use the English order “documentary film” (= adjective + noun).

What does tentang mean, and can I replace it with something else?

Tentang means “about / regarding / on the topic of”.

In this sentence:

film dokumenter tentang kebun binatang
= a documentary film about zoos

Other similar words:

mengenai – also “about/regarding”, slightly more formal, often used in writing.
soal – “about / on the subject of”, a bit more informal/colloquial in many contexts.

You could say:

film dokumenter mengenai kebun binatang – acceptable, a bit more formal.
film dokumenter soal kebun binatang – also possible, slightly more casual.

Tentang is perfectly neutral and very common.

What exactly does diputar mean here? I thought putar means “to turn/spin”.

Base verb:

putar = to turn, rotate, spin, play (a record, a song, a movie), screen (a film)

With the passive prefix di-:

diputar = is/was/gets played, is/was/gets shown/screened

So in this context:

Film dokumenter … diputar di televisi
The documentary is shown/played on television.

The idea is: the TV station “turns/plays” the film (like turning a reel or starting a video), and in passive form we focus on the film:

Mereka memutar film itu. = They play/show the film. (active)
Film itu diputar (oleh mereka). = The film is played/shown (by them). (passive)

So diputar is the normal verb for “shown/played” for movies, shows, and songs.

Why is the verb in the passive voice (diputar) instead of the active? Could I say it in the active voice?

Yes, you could say it in the active voice, but the passive is very natural here.

Original (passive):

Film dokumenter … diputar di televisi malam ini.
= The documentary is shown on television tonight.

Active version:

Televisi menayangkan / memutar film dokumenter … malam ini.
= The television (station) broadcasts/plays the documentary tonight.

Why passive is common:

Indonesian often uses passive when the object (the thing affected) is what you want to highlight.
The agent/doer (the TV station) is either obvious or unimportant, so it’s omitted.

If you do want to mention the doer:

Film dokumenter … akan diputar di televisi itu oleh stasiun X malam ini.
= The documentary will be shown on that TV channel by station X tonight.

But usually, just diputar di televisi is enough and sounds natural.

Does diputar show tense (past / present / future)? How do we know this means “tonight”?

Diputar does not by itself show tense. Indonesian verbs generally don’t change form for past/present/future.

Tense is shown by:

Time words: tadi, kemarin, sekarang, nanti, besok, malam ini, etc.
Aspect words: sudah, belum, sedang, akan, etc.

In this sentence:

malam ini = tonight / this evening

So:

Film dokumenter … diputar di televisi malam ini.
= The documentary is being shown / will be shown on television tonight.

If you want to make the future more explicit, you can add:

akan (will):
Film dokumenter … akan diputar di televisi malam ini.

But even without akan, malam ini already gives a clear future-ish time frame.

What does di televisi mean exactly? Is it “on TV” or “in TV”? Can I just say di TV?

Di is a general preposition for location, usually translated as “at / in / on” depending on context.

di televisi literally = “at/on television”

In natural English, we’d say “on TV”, but Indonesian doesn’t split into “at/in/on” the way English does; it just uses di.

Yes, you can also say:

di TV – very common and a bit more colloquial.
di televisi – slightly more formal/neutral.

Both mean “on TV / on television”.

Where is the word for “a” or “the” (article) in this sentence? How do I know if it’s “a documentary” or “the documentary”?

Indonesian usually does not use articles like “a” or “the”. The bare noun phrase can be:

film dokumenter = “a documentary” or “the documentary”, depending on context.

To be more specific:

sebuah film dokumenter = a (single) documentary film
(sebuah is a classifier for one item)
film dokumenter itu = that/the documentary
(itu after the noun can function like “that/the”)

In your sentence, Film dokumenter tentang kebun binatang… could be translated as:

A documentary about zoos is on TV tonight.
or
The documentary about zoos is on TV tonight.

Only context will tell which is intended.

Can the word order of malam ini and di televisi be changed?

Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible with time and place phrases.

Original:

Film dokumenter … diputar di televisi malam ini.

Possible variants:

Film dokumenter … diputar malam ini di televisi.
Malam ini film dokumenter … diputar di televisi.
Di televisi malam ini, film dokumenter … diputar. (more written/formal style)

All are grammatically correct. The differences are mostly focus/emphasis:

Putting malam ini at the start emphasizes “Tonight…” as the topic.
Keeping di televisi malam ini together is a very natural spoken order.

Why isn’t there a word like “is” (to be) in the sentence?

Indonesian often does not use a separate “to be” verb when:

the sentence already has a main verb, or
it connects a subject to a noun/adjective (especially in the present tense).

In your sentence, diputar is the main verb:

Film dokumenter … diputar di televisi malam ini.
(Lit.) Documentary film … is-played on TV tonight.

So there is no need for an extra “is”. The passive verb diputar already carries the verbal meaning.

Compare:

Dia guru. = He/She (is a) teacher. (no “is”)
Mereka senang. = They (are) happy. (no “are”)

Indonesian simply omits “to be” in many contexts where English requires it.

Is malam ini always “tonight”? Can it also mean “this evening”?

Yes. Malam ini literally means “this night”, but in natural English translation it covers both:

tonight
this evening

Indonesian doesn’t strictly separate “evening” and “night” the way English does. As long as it’s after late afternoon and before you sleep, malam ini can fit, and you choose “tonight” or “this evening” in English based on what sounds more natural.

Could I shorten this sentence in a natural way in Indonesian?

Yes, in casual speech Indonesians often shorten it when context is clear. Some natural shorter versions:

Malam ini ada film dokumenter tentang kebun binatang di TV.
= Tonight there’s a documentary about zoos on TV.
Malam ini di TV ada film dokumenter tentang kebun binatang.

Here:

ada = there is/there will be
Using ada
- noun is very common to announce programs/events.

The original sentence is perfectly correct and natural, but these shorter versions sound very typical in everyday conversation.