Six Indonesian films for Lebaran

This year, we welcome another batch of six Indonesian films as Lebaran-holiday picks. The number may be overwhelming; with their close release dates over the past few days, one cannot help questioning the necessity of such a forced attempt to cram in the lot for our attention. Nevertheless, the films of Lebaran 2008 bring more variety in themes and storylines compared with their predecessors, and so should entertain every level of Indonesian film audiences.

First up is the much-hyped Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Warriors), a touching story about the struggle by an elementary school to function properly in the remote area of Belitong, Sumatra. The film is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name by Andrea Hirata. The novel moved its readers to tears and set them up to read the rest of the books in its four-series story.

The film took director Riri Riza back to his successful area of handling children talents, as seen in his previous works Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure) and the modest but respected Untuk Rena (For Rena).

Judging by positive word-of-mouth comments from its previews, armed with strong promotion, it is almost a sure bet for the film to top the box office lists.

However, the next two films are also strong commercial contenders: Suami-Suami Takut Istri The Movie (Husbands Scared of Their Wives) and Cinlok (On-Set Romance). The former, a film version of a successful TV series of the same title about a group of husbands dominated by their overbearing wives, will no doubt benefit from the series' loyal fans.

The film brings the group's misadventures to Bali, which no doubt will feature beaches and bikini-clad girls, especially with the additional presence of pin-up girls Sarah Azhari and Rahma Azhari, all of which should be reminiscent of the Warkop DKI kind of comedy.

Cinlok has a different style, which aims for a more situational comedy and sees the return of the team of Tora Sudiro, comedian-turned-talk-show-host Tukul Arwana and director Guntur Soeharjanto who earlier this year made the genuinely funny Otomatis Romantis (Automatically Romantic). While Luna Maya's performance as leading lady in a comedy remains to be seen, high hopes are pinned on Ria Irawan, a consistently reliable supporting actress in any genre, to balance the banter between the two proven funny leading men.

Comedy is also on the menu for Barbi3, which targets teenage girls. The film, about three mean college girls who fool around with down-on-their-luck guys before a life-changing incident teaches the girls to be meek, is written and directed by Monty Tiwa, who seems to be more at ease with the genre after last year's Maaf Saya Menghamili Istri Anda (Sorry I Knocked Up Your Wife) and this year's Extra Large.

Targeting the same audience is Chika, a drama that promises plenty of sentimental dialogue. Audiences may find a certain resemblance between the film's newcomers Sharon Jessica and Muhammad Fardhan and Eiffel I'm in Love's Shandy Aulia and Samuel Rizal. This is either a coincidence or an intended ploy, since both films come from the same production company, Soraya Intercine Films, and rely heavily on foreign settings. In Chika, replacing Paris and the Eiffel Tower is Venice and its iconic gondolas.

The last of the batch, which is on limited release, is Kantata Takwa, a historical film 18 years in the making. A documentary-musical so to speak, the film brings to life the struggles of musicians and actors Iwan Fals, Sawung Jabo, W.S. Rendra, Jockie Suryoprayogo and Eros Djarot, along with tycoon Setiawan Djody, in resisting oppression by the regime of former president Soeharto.

Their journey culminates in the staging of "Kantata Takwa" in what was then Istora Senayan (now Bung Karno Sports Hall) in 1991, which remains one of the most memorable local musical concerts in history.

The film had its world premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival this year and has since traveled extensively to other film festivals, with upcoming screenings in Bangkok and Hawaii International Film Festivals.

Also vying for attention during the holiday session, in addition to local films, will be Mongol, Kazakhstan's Oscar-nominated film for best foreign language category in Academy Awards earlier this year, indie horror Rec, martial arts flick Painted Skin and two animated talkies Impy's Wonderland and Space Chimps.

With this crowd of films, there is no doubt the holiday will forever be cemented in our minds as a memorable week of film-going events. For what it's worth, it sure beats washing dishes and doing the laundry yourself.

For complete screening schedule and synopsis of all the above films, refer to http://www.21cineplex.com/ and http://www.blitzmegaplex.com/

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Senayan library: A place for film, fact and fiction

LIBRARY LISTENING: Two blind library members are scanner facility that turns textbooks into audio. The facility enables them to enjoy several books unavailable in braille.
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The National Education Ministry is arguably one of the more people-friendly government agencies in Jakarta. It welcomes all, in particular fond readers of the written word and devotees to the moving picture.

If you have free time for intellectual pleasure, pursue it at the ministry's library. The Perpustakaan Pendidikan Nasional (National Education Library), or Library@Senayan, is on the ground floor of the main ministry building at Jalan Sudirman, Senayan.

This library is a learner's oasis with 18,000 books, 5,000 audio visual materials and 80 print media titles. Opened in November 2004, the library's main collection comes from the British Council at the Widjaja building across the street.

Like any public library, you are free to walk in without having to submit to an electronic spot check.

One feature that immediately draws visitors in is the giant, flat-screen TV at the far end of the reading room. Sit on a sofa, put on earphones and watch the latest BBC world news broadcast.

After absorbing an hour of TV news, switch to the printed version. You'll find the day's edition of Kompas, The Jakarta Post, Republika and several other major Jakarta-based papers, as well as the locally printed International Herald Tribune. You also have your choice of news magazines: Tempo, Gatra, Time and The Economist.

Many of the visitors are young, student types. Regular members, who pay Rp 150,000 a year for membership, can use the library's desktop computers and the Internet is accessible for 12 hours of the day. A premium membership grants you free Internet access for whole year. For that, you have to cough up Rp250,000. If you are not a member but want to go on line, the charge is Rp 10,000 an hour. Members who bring their own laptops can use the free wireless facility.

MOVIE HUNT: A library member looks for her favorite films at the Education Ministry’s library in Senayan, Central Jakarta. The library is also equipped with a TV to play the movies.(JP/Ricky Yudhistira)MOVIE HUNT: A library member looks for her favorite films at the Education Ministry’s library in Senayan, Central Jakarta. The library is also equipped with a TV to play the movies.
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The digital video discs are also popular. Many are from the BBC and other U.K. networks. You can find David Attenborough's acclaimed nature series, Harry Potter and vintage David Lean films. One is a 1945 film, Brief Encounter, a typical English film. A doctor (Trevor Howard) meets an attractive woman (Celia Johnson) by chance on a railway platform. Both are happily married but after two more chance encounters, they become drawn to each other.

If you want to extend film watching into an intellectual exercise with an exchange of ideas, the library offers a monthly screening for all visitors. On the third and fourth Saturdays of the month (and sometimes the fifth when there is one) at 12 noon, you can watch a feature film for free. They are films based on real events, which deliver a message of humanity. After the screening, the film viewers give their off-the-cuff critiques.

In March, the library rolled the award-winning Indonesian masterpiece Cut Nyak Dien. Actress Christine Hakim portrays a warrior chief in Aceh, whose name is the film's title. Her protracted guerrilla warfare in the late 19th century against the Dutch made it difficult for the colonial army to subdue the territory.

The April film was Freedom Writers. It is a film about a California teacher, Erin Gruwell, who is assigned to a high school in a troubled neighborhood. The majority of the students seem destined to fail their high school exams. She teaches them how their exposure to violence and intimidation is parallel to what Jewish teenager Anne Frank faced in Holland under the Nazis during World War II. Through strong will and sacrifice, however, Gruwell motivates her students to write moving diaries of their life experiences. They end up graduating and some move on to college to become motivating teachers themselves.

The May screening was Sometimes in April, which tells the true story of an African family caught in the 1994 ethnic conflict in Rwanda. After the showing, one viewer warned of provocateurs who play one section of the community against another.

Another viewer believed a central message to the film was people of different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds in a community must learn to develop mutual appreciation to live peacefully and prosper together.

After treating your eyes and ears to a film, you might want to treat your taste buds. The delightful, dim-lighted La Biblio caf* is located to the right of the library and offers light snacks. Try a plate of singkong (cassava) for Rp 5,000 and a cup of Jawa oolong tea. This blend of jasmine and green tea sets you back Rp 5,500.

If the stomach pleads for something more substantial, try the nasi mangkok, a rice dish, for Rp17,500. This is a glass bowl of rice with shredded chicken in thick, sweet kecap (soy sauce). A smattering of small cuts of carrot, onion, mustard green, green peas and sweet corn come with it.

So if you have a Saturday free and want to do something meaningful with it, visit Library@Senayan.

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Happy endings come at a high price

I often had trouble deciding whether the TV series Sex and the City was feminist, anti-feminist or if indeed it needed to be one or the other.

On the one hand, the show depicted four independent women who talked openly about sex in great detail, a once taboo act for women. The show addressed realistic problems (some more realistic than others) faced by the modern-day city girl. Carrie would present these issues with a question at the beginning of each episode -- Do men prefer women less successful than them? Is monogamy realistic?

On the other hand, the show depicts women as superficial shopaholics whose lives revolve around their dates, one-night stands and relationships with men.

There is, however, no question about the new film, Sex and the City: The Movie.

The film's major flaw is not its lack of plot or even its lack of character development, which was to be expected -- but rather its depiction of women.

As a woman, I found the film insulting. All that the six-year TV series had accomplished was destroyed in a mere 142 minutes.

Women are portrayed as two-dimensional, with their only interests being men and materialism. Similar to the TV series, it opens with a voice-over from Carrie: "Women come to New York for the two Ls -- labels and love."

The film starts off with a cheap stereotype, which is carried on throughout.

It seems in New York people are not only looking for love, they are looking for marriage and stability, and at any cost.

In the film, Carrie is weak and sidesteps any conflict between her and her man, Mr. Big. She is afraid of causing a stir and afraid of instability, or life without a man.

The film centers on the wedding between Carrie and Mr. Big. They decide to get married because it seems like the right thing to do, in the interest of finances and stability. It is an engagement devoid of romance.

Early on in the film, Big leaves Carrie and her multi-thousand-dollar Vivienne Westwood dress at the altar. She then spends the majority of the film wallowing in self-pity. Compared to this wallowing the resolution is quick and straight to the point. All is forgiven after a set of plagiarized love letters. And then comes the twist; Carrie, it seems, could actually be to blame for their falling out.

In the end, she compromises her values, friendship and dignity for a man who calls her "kid" and "young lady". The power imbalance between the two is, unfortunately, palpable.

And while the movie revolves around Carrie, the other three women -- Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda -- have equally undignified subplots.

In the TV series the three women were very strong characters, from the sexually promiscuous Samantha to the traditional Charlotte and the cynical Miranda. They were uncompromising within their own individual set of morals. In the movie these characteristics are diluted, and at times the characters, except for perhaps Charlotte, go against their values as displayed in the TV show.

Samantha becomes fat to the dismay of her friends, although it is difficult to see the alleged bulging belly. Charlotte, who is the brunt of some unsavory toilet humor, stops her daily running routine because she is pregnant. And Miranda, distraught by her own relationship problems, doesn't satisfy her man enough and is a suggested reason for Big's inability to turn show up on the big day.

Added to the mix is Louise, Carrie's new assistant, from St. Louis with an obsession for Louis Vuitton and love.

Consumerism was always a part of the TV series. But over-priced designer goods came with social consequences, ethical dilemmas and at times, realistically, debt. In the film, there are no such consequences as Carrie shops big and spends big.

At the beginning of the film, Big and Carrie buy a penthouse apartment in the Big Apple. The apartment is airy and has ample room. Daylight streams through the large windows. It is "heaven" and close to perfection save for one major design flaw: the size of the closet. Without a walk-in wardrobe where is our petite, fashionable protagonist supposed to house her numerous clothes, shoes and accessories?

When Big unveils her walk-in wardrobe, bigger than most New York apartments, Carrie gasps and declares her love. Love and labels are intertwined, and women, therefore, are shallow.

Where in the TV series the four main women had successful careers -- Samantha was a successful PR agent, Miranda a partner at a law firm, Charlotte a successful art dealer and Carrie a columnist of a major metropolitan daily -- the trials and tribulations of the workplace play an almost nonexistent role. This helps to reinforce the two-dimensional stereotype of women.

The women screeched and squawked every time they greeted each other, and I shuffled in my seat, cringing and lamenting the loss of four great characters.

Perhaps the problem is in the format; after the book, Sex and the City was only ever meant to be a TV show. In the TV series the women did not persevere through bad relationships and did not put up with the arrogance or ignorance of their partners. The format required them to move on, and with each new episode there was a new conundrum. The playing field was even.

But with the desire to have a happy ending in the movie, Carrie becomes feeble. Carrie must live happily ever after in the arms of one man even if that means forgoing her dignity and the dignity of women alike.

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This article was written by Jemise Anning and Angela Dewan, published at The Jakarta Post

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Komeng hits the big screen

Comedian Komeng, who has spent almost his whole acting career in TV shows, will debut on the big screen in the upcoming sex-comedy flick Anda Puas Saya Loyo (You're Satisfied I'm Tired).

"This is my first film," the 37-year-old comedian was quoted as saying by Antara, adding he had previously turned down offers from film producers as he did not want it to affect his TV show schedule.

In the movie, Komeng says he was given the freedom to improvise. "I didn't read the script. I was only given the synopsis," he says.

Anda Puas Saya Loyo, which was produced by K2K Production, claims to be the first film featuring top comedians, such as Bedu, Mastur and Ruben, and features actresses like Andy Soraya and Yeyen.

The film follows the controversial film of the same genre, Mau Lagi (Want More), which was banned from being screened by the censorship board.

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Monogamy, marriage new values at 'Sex and the City: The Movie'

They were once four savvy single women whose friendships came before love affairs, whose shoes came before a mortgage and whose men never came before they did, or else they'd be thrown out of bed. They were Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte of HBO's instant-hit series Sex and the City.

Ten years after the TV show's debut, promiscuity and independence is replaced with monogamy and marriage in the newly released Sex and the City: The Movie.

Dr. Astrid Henry, gender and women's studies professor at Grinnell College, in Iowa, the United States, and author of the essay Orgasms and Empowerment: Sex and the City and Third-Wave Feminism, said the film was conservative, contrived and inconsistent with the TV series.

"I was bothered by the ending, which has all the women married, except for Samantha, who, at the end of the film, is 'old, fat and alone'. She's left in a sort of 'loser' role, even though she was always happy with her autonomy in the series. The ending of the film makes her seem much more pathetic than the show did," she said, adding the characters had all become more like the character Charlotte in their quests for marriage and monogamy.

Noted writer Ashley Sayeau said the characters had evolved and the transformation from bachelorette to bride was in line with what the characters wanted.

"As in the series, the film did a good job of showing each character come to terms with what she wanted out of her life -- not what society wanted for her, or what men wanted for her, or even her friends, but what she wanted. I loved that Sam became single again," she said.

"The show said to them, if you want to marry, great. If you don't, that's great too. The same goes with the decision to have children or choose a particular career."

In its time, the show received more praise from feminists than criticism.

Dr. Nicola Evans, a media and cultural studies lecturer at the University of Wollongong, Australia, said, "Sex and the City broke new ground in the rather conservative terrain of American sitcoms. It refused to worship at the altar of marriage and monogamy, daring to suggest there might be other objectives in life worth pursuing."

Sayeau said, "It was one of the only series in the last decade that showed independent women making money, having relationships and just existing on their own terms."

Henry said, "The show made people more aware of female sexuality and the idea that women are sexual beings with desires -- and that they have a right to talk about their desires in public."

The show impressed feminists around the world with its portrayal of women as intelligent sexual beings, but critics agree the TV series' socio-economic politics did not reflect most viewers.

"The show represented a particular vision of female empowerment -- one focused on white, economically privileged, working women, who did not seem to be facing any of the traditional forms of oppression addressed by feminism," Henry said.

Evans said, "The series draws on the very familiar and very narrow demographics of TV land where to be visible, women must be white, young, attractive, well-paid and obsessed with expensive shoes."

Sayeau is aware of this skewed demographic, but said there was room for such a depiction on TV.

"Try to remember that it is a work of popular culture, not a literary theory text. As such, it's no surprise that it made certain concessions, like lots of shoes and nudity. But overall, I think the show did a lot more good than it did bad."

"Critics get upset by all the sex the women have, and all the money they make. They call these things as if they are making an aesthetic argument, but in reality it's a moral judgment. In real life, after all, women are making more money than ever and marrying later," she said.

In the film, however, the characters' socio-economic status has been pushed up a notch. The four are depicted as the shopaholics they always were -- times 10. When Samantha is feeling tied down in her relationships, she goes shopping, filling the trunk of her car with Chanel and Gucci goodies as she drives off with her new pooch, resembling a 50-year-old botoxed Paris Hilton.

"The film totally sidesteps questions about money and makes it seem like everyone is now in the upper tier financially, and that having three published books has made Carrie a wealthy woman -- highly unlikely -- who can now afford to give her assistant a US$5,000 designer bag," Henry said.

Sex and the City: The Movie offers a dramatic breakup, a Cinderella marriage proposal, a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress and one perfect husband.

These larger-than-life fantasies will please those looking for glamor and a fairy-tale ending, and will frustrate those hoping the characters had frozen in time just as they were in the TV series -- when it was all about women, sex and the city.

source: Jakarta Post

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Kidman to help Australian tourism

Australia is hoping to boost tourism by launching a campaign on the back of Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman's new film, which is set in the Outback.

X-Men star Hugh Jackman will co-star in the movie, titled Australia, which is set on the eve of World War II.

It is being directed by Baz Luhrmann, best known for making Moulin Rouge.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said the film would highlight Australia's "extraordinary natural environment, history and indigenous culture".

The movie's release in November would offer the tourism industry "one of its greatest promotional opportunities in many years", he added.

Tourism slump

Tourism Australia will kick off an international marketing campaign to coincide with the film's release.

The movie is based around an English aristocrat, played by Kidman, who falls in love with Jackman's outback cattleman.

The number of overseas visitors travelling to Australia was down in the first two months of the year, the Reuters news agency reported.

The 1986 film Crocodile Dundee led to a surge of arrivals when its star Paul Hogan fronted an international advertising campaign telling tourists he would "put another shrimp on the barbie". [BBC News]

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Mediterranean Christian cruise

This is a good news about Christian Cruise. Join authentic sailing adventure on a privately chartered luxury yacht that holds 170 believers. Bible teachings on board and on shore Teachings in amazing settings - including the amphitheatre where the Apostle Paul spoke. Visit the Bible ports of Athens, Patmos, Ephesus and Pergamum. Full day visit to the most beautiful island in the world - Santorini.

Living Passages works in tandem with nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations who specializes in Christ centered projects and events. The events are either conferences on board privately chartered cruise ships or events that provide soft adventure and missions services to His people around the world.

Living Passages partner with organizations to help them attain their own goals. They use travel as a vehicle to further HIS Kingdom. Following are the christian cruise events:

Biblelands Mediterranean Cruise 2009
Israel - Chuck Missler 2008
Reformation with Dr. Erwin Lutzer 2008
Egypt - Biblical Journey of Moses 2008 & 09
Ethiopia - Ark of the Covenant Bible Tours
Purposeful Africa Cruise Winter 2010
Footsteps of Paul- Mediterranean Luxury Cruise July 2008
Footsteps of Paul-Packinghouse March 2008
Israel Bible Tour with Dr. Gabriel Mizerani

You are invited to join Mediterranean Christian cruise on July 18, 2008 with top Bible speakers. Star Clipper luxury cruise. Find more information about Bible Cruises and Christian Cruises

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JiFFest Film Entry Submission 2008

The 10th Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) from December 5 - 14, 2008 is currently accepting film entries for our consideration. Be sure to meet all the necessary requirements and regulations. Please note that deadline for film entry is on September 1, 2008. No late submissions will be accepted. The official entry form can be downloaded here.

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JiFFest Script Development Competition 2008!

After the continuous success in previous years, JiFFest will continue to have its annual script workshops, largely known as JiFFest Script Development Competition (JSDC). The workshops are aimed to develop and to improve the capacity of Indonesian fiction and documentary filmmakers. Their expertise is needed to develop the Indonesian film-industry. The participants in the workshops will be selected among film professionals or those who have already gained experience in filmmaking. The workshops are free of charge for the short-listed participants.

There will be 3 script workshops. All are practical workshops, meaning the participant must apply with a script or synopsis. The workshops will run for 5 days and are conducted by international tutors. The script workshops are:
1. Short Fiction Film Script Workshop
2. Feature Film Script Workshop
3. Documentary Film Script Workshop

Closing date for submission of the scripts is September 22, 2008, at 8 pm.


A selection committee will select up to 10 best projects in each category. The writers of the selected projects will be invited to attend a 5-day workshop given by professional tutors from abroad during 10th JiFFest 2008 (December 5-14, 2008). All the workshops will be conducted in English. Translators will be present to accommodate participants who have indicated their request of translation service prior to the commencement of the workshop.



Details of the workshop are as follows:

• Day 1-5: Full-day workshop

• Day 6-7: Participants rewrite their scripts/synopses

• Day 8: Pitching to panel of judges

• Day 9: Winners announced during JiFFest Closing Ceremony.





1. Short Fiction Film Script Workshop



The cash prize of 75 million Rupiah each will be given to maximum 2 winners for the production of the short fiction film. The prize is presented by Astro Kirana.



Regulations:

• Scripts are written in either Bahasa Indonesia or English. Please note that if you are short-listed as a participant, you have to submit the English version of the script.
• Fill in the application form in Bahasa Indonesia or English..
• Applicant must be living in Indonesia and/or an Indonesian citizen and must be 20 years or older.
• The entry (a script) must be original, authentic and about an Indonesian subject and/ or rooted in the Indonesian culture. Should the entry is adapted from previously published materials (e.g. novel, journal, magazine, etc.), three copies of printed approval letters from owners of the original materials have to be attached.
• THREE COPIES of the completed application form and script should be sent BY MAIL, accompanied by other supporting materials
• The prime consideration of the selection committee that reviews all the projects will be the content of the application.

• Preference will be given to those who have experiences in writing film script.

• The entry has never been submitted to JiFFest Script Development Competition in previous years.

• Selected participants are committed to be present every day during workshop.



Download the application form for Short Fiction Film Script Workshop HERE





2. Feature Film Script Workshop

The cash prize of 50 million Rupiah will be given to a single for the completion of the script. For this category, invited tutors will be present as part of JiFFest partnership with French Embassy in Indonesia.



Regulations:

• Synopses of maximum 2 pages are written either in Bahasa Indonesia or in English. Please note that if you are short-listed as a participant, you have to submit the English version of the synopsis.
• Fill in the application form in Bahasa Indonesia or in English.

• Applicant must be an Indonesian citizen and must be 20 years or older.
• The entry (a synopsis) must be original, authentic and about an Indonesian subject and/ or rooted in the Indonesian culture. Should the entry is adapted from previously published materials (e.g. novel, journal, magazine, etc.), three copies of printed approval letters from owners of the original materials have to be attached.
• THREE COPIES of the completed application form and synopsis should be sent BY MAIL, accompanied by other supporting materials.
• The prime consideration of the selection committee that reviews all the projects will be the content of the application.

• Preference will be given to those who have experiences in writing film script.

• The entry has never been submitted to JiFFest Script Development Competition in previous years.
• In favor of the project to be selected by the committee is that there should be a strong possibility that the rest of the finance can be found for the project. Therefore, if possible, applicants should mention other partners who are interested in the project.
• The committee will only select ideas for feature films with theatrical release potential.

• Selected participants are committed to be present every day during workshop.



Download the application form for Feature Film Script Workshop HERE





3. Documentary Film Script Workshop

The cash prize of 50 million Rupiah will be given to 1 winner or 2 winners of 25 million Rupiah each. For short documentary, the prize is to be used for the production of the project; while for long documentary, the prize is to be used for the completion of the script.


Regulations:

• For short documentary, applicants must submit their script or set up; while for long documentary, applicants can submit a synopsis.

• Fill in the application form in Bahasa Indonesia or in English.

• Applicant must be an Indonesian citizen and must be 20 years or older.
• The entry (a synopsis) must be original, authentic and about an Indonesian subject and/ or rooted in the Indonesian culture. Should the entry is adapted from previously published materials (e.g. novel, journal, magazine, etc.), three copies of printed approval letters from owners of the original materials have to be attached.
• THREE COPIES of the completed application form should be sent BY MAIL, accompanied by other supporting materials
• The prime consideration of the selection committee that reviews all the projects will be the content of the application.

• Preference will be given to those who have experiences in writing film script.

• The entry has never been submitted to JiFFest Script Development Competition in previous years.
• In favor of the project to be selected by the committee is that there should be a strong possibility that the rest of the finance can be found for the project. Therefore, if possible, applicants should mention other partners who are interested in the project.

• Selected participants are committed to be present every day during workshop.



Download the application form for Documentary Film Script Workshop HERE





Incomplete application forms and requirements will not be processed.

The deadline for submission is September 22, 2008, 8 pm.



Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest)

Jl. Sutan Syahrir 1 C/ Blok 3-4 Jakarta 10350

Telp. (021)31925113/115

Fax. (021)31925360

Website http://www.jiffest.org/

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Poetics and Politics in Garin Nugroho's A Poet (2)

It is in this willingness to look, to take off the mask, that the historical importance of A Poet lies. The film forms part of a wave of long-repressed criticism of the crimes of the Suharto regime unleashed in the last few years. (12) The film could not have been made during the Suharto era, and Nugroho admits that its 1999 release in Indonesia would have been unlikely if Habibie had been re-elected as president. (13) The new scrutiny of public life coincides with a critical time for the Indonesian film industry. Economic crisis and the collapse of the rupiah at the end of the '90s, which closed cinemas and at first threatened the demise of the movie industries, have in fact opened up new opportunities for cheaper local films, and for a new social realist cinema. (14) Described as 'a one man "new wave"', (15) Nugroho has survived through this period, shooting A Poet on the cheaper digital video format and winning numerous awards with the film. (16)

Although one commentator has written that Nugroho has "graduated" from working in documentaries to making feature films, his work has in fact alternated between both modes. Before making A Poet, he made a documentary on the life of Ibrahim Kadir, and alongside his earlier feature about street kids he also directed a documentary about life on the streets in Jogjakarta. Nugroho clearly chooses the medium appropriate to his task: as Tony Rayns writes, "each film is radically different in form and theme from others". (17) While the titles at the beginning of A Poet state that "a fair and neutral investigation of [the murder of the seven generals that sparked the massacres] was never conducted", Nugroho does not attempt this kind of investigation. In A Poet, we never see the perpetrators of the atrocities, and as for the cause, we are left only with the confusion and questioning of the inmates, "why is this happening?", "what has gone wrong?", "why are our lives so out of kilter?" (18)

Walter Benjamin writes, of the process of storytelling:
It is not the object of the story to convey a happening per se, which is the purpose of information; rather, it embeds it in the life of the storyteller in order to pass it on as experience to those listening. It thus bears the marks of the storyteller much as the earthen vessel bears the marks of the potter's hand. (19)
A Poet embeds this story in the lives of the listener-viewer in a profoundly embodied way, inscribed through the texture of the cell walls, the restless pace of the camera, the emotional qualities of the voice, the cyclic structures of repetition. Bowen argues that the western idea that history or politics can be understood as objects distinct from cultural and aesthetic forms is inadequate to address the embodiment of politics in cultural form. Certainly, the disembodied voice of history exists in contemporary Indonesia, but Nugroho emphasises his choice to avoid the historical approach (sejarah), and to work with the emotional registers of "the verbal tradition". (20)

The film bears the marks of two storytellers, the filmmakers and Ibrahim Kadir. (21) Kadir's performance sees him acting a highly stylised role. It is a performance, and a masterful one at that, winning him Best Actor awards at two international festivals, but it is also much more. There is an intensity to his performance, a complex dialectic between distance and proximity in his role representing both himself and the voice of the storyteller. Kadir, the storyteller, is the potter whose bodily memory marks the "earthen vessel" of the story. Just as Kadir does not locate himself outside the events re-enacted, nor does Nugroho, the other storyteller, take up an authorial voice outside or above the experience of these events, the "judicial" voice of interrogation which would present a case, but render culture, experience and feeling as artefacts or objects to be scrutinised. The trajectories of a history that meet in the experience of Kadir and his fellow inmates are not separate from the cultural histories that weave through the tradition of didong. Nor are these events removed from the experience of them, or the deep incisions they have left in the bodily memory of those who survived.

Bowen claims that, in the '70s, "the poetic medium [of didong was] deemed to be 'cultural', and thus somewhat safe from direct suppression" despite its political criticisms. (22) He does, however, document the strategy of the New Order regime in the '70s and '80s "to subsume all social movements and cultural expression under the Pancasila, the Five Principles that form the state ideology". (23) With resonances that go beyond the '60s into the current struggle in Aceh against the central government, didong grounds A Poet in the sense of local culture and cultural affiliation as the life-blood of a people, the vital core of resistance to decimation by military might. (24) Kadir's performance embodies both the refusal to bury the memory of the victims and a refusal to surrender a rich poetic tradition to the homogenising demands of a national culture. By working with the multi-layered affective tradition of didong, Nugroho embeds his film within the complex mesh of layered meanings in contemporary Indonesian cultural politics.

see the footnote here

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